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PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


PRESENTED  BY 

Del avan  L.  Pierson 


if\ 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/womanleaveninjapOOdefo 


, 


- 


A  JAPANESE  MADONNA 

Educated  Christian  Mother 


[J 


The  Woman 


Leaven  in  Japan 

By 

Charlotte  B.  DeForest 


Published  by 

THE  CENTRAL  COMMITTEE  ON  THE  UNITED  STUDY 
OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 
West  Medford,  Massachusetts 
1923 


Copyright,  1923,  by 

THE  CENTRAL  COMMITTEE  ON  THE  UNITED  STUDY 

OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 


The  Vermont  Printing  Company 
Brattleboro 


STATEMENT  OF  THE 
CENTRAL  COMMITTEE  ON  THE  UNITED 
STUDY  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 


In  securing  Miss  Charlotte  De  Forest  as  the  author 
of  our  woman’s  text  book  on  Japan  we  were  peculiarly 
fortunate.  Japan  is  Miss  DeForest’s  own  country,  in 
a  certain  sense,  as  she  is  the  daughter  of  the  distin¬ 
guished  pioneer  missionary  of  the  American  Board, 
Dr.  John  H.  DeForest.  She  knew  and  loved  Japan  as 
a  child,  and  has  studied  it  through  all  its  rapidly 
changing  phases,  quick  to  see  opportunities  for  im¬ 
provement  but  with  a  clear  and  sympathetic  under¬ 
standing  of  the  many  admirable  qualities  of  the 
Japanese.  After  Miss  DeForest’s  graduation  from 
Smith  college,  she  returned  to  take  up  educational 
work  in  Japan  where  she  has  served  with  great  ability 
and  distinction. 

With  characteristic  modesty  Miss  DeForest  with¬ 
holds  the  fact  that  she  is  now  president  of  Kobe  col¬ 
lege,  which  she  describes  so  impartially  in  Chapter  IV 
on  colleges  for  women.  She  has  seen  the  Leaven  at 
work  and  has  been  a  factor  in  its  working. 

We  recommend  this  book,  “The  Woman  and  the 
Leaven  in  Japan”  to  circles  of  women  who  are  plan¬ 
ning  the  program  meetings  for  their  local  societies,  as 
well  as  to  young  women’s  organizations  and  college 
groups. 


3 


4  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

We  suggest,  as  an  admirable  background,  Mr.  Galen 
Fisher’s  more  advanced  study  book,  “Creative  Forces 
in  Japan,”  issued  by  the  Missionary  Education  Move¬ 
ment.  The  brevity  of  Miss  DeForest’s  book  prevents 
her  giving  historical  events  in  connection  with  the  es¬ 
tablishment  of  Christian  missions  in  Japan.  We  would 
advise  the  use  of  the  two  books  wherever  a  careful 
study  is  to  be  made. 

May  we  also  recommend  for  genuine  joy,  the  read¬ 
ing  of  our  junior  book,  “The  Honorable  Japanese 
Fan,”  by  Miss  Margaret  Applegarth,  which  will  bring 
the  scent  and  color  of  cherry  blossoms  and  the  happy 
faces  and  gay  fancies  of  the  children  of  Japan  into  our 
older  circles  with  the  joy  which  children  always  bring. 

The  Central  Committee  will  publish  the  “How  to 
Use”  early  this  year.  It  is  in  preparation  by  Miss 
Gertrude  Schultz. 

The  book  by  Mr.  Galen  Fisher  carries  the  imprint 
of  the  Central  Committee  as  does  this  more  special¬ 
ized  woman’s  book. 

The  Committee  has  urged  the  Woman’s  Boards  of 
Foreign  Missions  to  publish  leaflets  and  pamphlets  on 
their  own  missionary  work  in  Japan  as  valuable  sup¬ 
plementary  material  for  the  study  this  year. 

Mrs.  Henry  W.  Peabody,  Chairman 

Miss  Gertrude  Schultz,  Secretary 

Mrs.  Frank  Gaylord  Cook,  Treasurer 

Miss  Alice  M.  Kyle 

Mrs.  Frank  Mason  North 

Miss  O.  H.  Lawrence 

Mrs.  A.  V.  Pohlman 

Miss  Emily  Tillotson 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Facing  Page 

A  Japanese  Madonna  .  Frontispiece 

Four  Generations  of  Christians  .  16 

A  Modern  Japanese  Home — Braiding  Hat  Straw  .  21 

Daily  Vacation  Bible  School  .  28 

A  Christian  Bride,  1922  .  33 

An  Outdoor  Summer  Sunday  School  .  48 

A  Sunday  School  in  Japan  .  53 

The  Hour  for  Games  in  the  Daily  Vacation  Bible  School  60 

A  Neighborhood  Sunday  School  .  65 

First  Class  in  Training  for  Social  Secretaryship  Ser¬ 
vice,  Y.W.C.A .  80 

Athletic  Leaders,  Tokyo  College  .  85 

The  Five  Pioneers  of  1871  .  92 

The  Bucket  Ceremony  at  Kwassui  College — Group  of 

Married  Women  College  Students  .  97 

Doshisha  Girls’  College  Y.W.C.A.  .  112 

Gymnasium  Class  in  Tokyo  Woman’s  College — Annual 

Field  Day  .  117 

The  Buddhist  Nun  Who  Became  a  Christian — Binzuru, 

Popular  God  of  Healing  .  124 

Three  Leading  Educators  .  129 

Christian  School  for  Deaf  Children,  Tokyo  .  144 

Commencement  Day  Procession  .  149 

A  Prayer  Meeting  in  Zako  San’s  Store  .  156 

Free  Christian  Clinic  Held  Daily  in  Yokohama  .  161 

Miss  Michi  Kawai  and  Her  Mother  .  176 

Madame  Kaji  Yajima  and  Miss  Azuma  Moriya  .  181 

Madame  Nobu  Jo  and  the  Home  of  the  Kobe  Woman’s 

Welfare  Association  .  188 


5 


I 


PREFACE 


Ume  Kage  Nashi 

Tsuki  ochite 

Mado  niwa  kage  wo 
Tomenedomo 
Kayawa  kakururu 
Yowa  no  ume  kamo 

“The  Unseen  Plum  Tree” 

“The  moon  has  set. 

No  longer  on  the  pane 
Falls  the  soft  shadow  of  the  plum  tree  fair. 
Its  fragrance  yet 
Makes  night’s  concealment  vain 
And  tells  the  secret  of  its  presence  there.” 


HIS  is  the  poem  that  Madame  Yajima,  Japan’s 


«■»  most  famous  Christian  woman,  has  given  for  the 
cover  of  this  book.  It  is  one  that  she  wrote  some  time 
ago  and  especially  likes.  She  explains  that  it  means 
that,  even  if  wTe  cannot  see  into  people’s  hearts,  there 
may  be  faith  hidden  there  just  the  same.  The  leaven 
works  unseen,  pervasively. 

The  plum  blossom  had  been  chosen  for  the  cover 
design  before  the  poem  came  to  make  it  doubly  ap¬ 
propriate.  For  the  plum  blossom  has  from  of  old  in 
Japanese  art  and  literature  symbolized  the  peculiarly 
feminine  virtues.  It  is  among  the  earliest  flowers  to 
brave  the  winter’s  cold;  it  is  modest  and  lasts  long, — 
emblem  of  womanly  patience,  chastity,  and  humility. 


7 


8  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

The  cover  design  was  worked  out  by  a  mission  school 
girl  under  the  supervision  of  her  art  teacher. 

To  these  friends  and  many  others  who  have  con¬ 
tributed  facts  or  photographs  or  suggestions  I  grate¬ 
fully  acknowledge  indebtedness.  In  order  that  I  might 
not  as  a  foreigner  misrepresent  Japan,  I  asked  differ¬ 
ent  Japanese  friends  who  had  been  abroad  and  knew 
western  viewpoints  to  read  and  criticize  each  a  chap¬ 
ter,  as  follows: 

Chapter  I. — Rev.  Dan  jo  Ebina,  President  of 

Doshisha  University;  Mr.  Hachiro 
Taguchi,  Lecturer  on  Civics  at 
Kobe  College. 

Chapter  II. — Mrs.  Fuji  Tsukamoto  (Wilson  Col¬ 
lege),  Kobe. 

Chapter  III. — Miss  Tetsu  Yasui  (Cambridge), 

Dean  of  the  Woman’s  Christian 
College,  Tokyo. 

Chapter  IV. — Miss  Koto  Yamada  (Vassar),  Miss 

Tsuda’s  English  College,  Tokyo. 

Chapter  V. — Miss  Michi  Kawai  (Bryn  Mawr), 

General  Secretary  of  the  Japan 
Young  Women’s  Christian  Associ¬ 
ation. 

Chapter  VI. — Mrs.  William  Merrell  Vories  (nee 

Hitotsuyanagi)  (Bryn  Mawr), 
Hachiman,  Omi. 


Preface 


9 


The  reader  is  profiting  by  their  helpful  suggestions 
and  so  I  anticipate  her  thanks  and  express  them  con¬ 
jointly  with  my  own.  My  special  gratitude  is  due  to 
Miss  Hide  Shohara  of  the  English  faculty  of  Kobe 
College  for  her  aid  in  collecting,  selecting,  and  trans¬ 
lating  Japanese  material  and  assisting  with  the  clerical 
work  of  the  manuscript.  May  the  prayers  we  have 
offered  for  this  book,  as  we  worked  on  it  side  by  side, 
be  fulfilled  in  its  being  also  a  bit  of  the  leaven  that  is 
to  become  the  Kingdom  of  God  among  the  nations ! 

Charlotte  B.  De  Forest. 

Kobe  College, 

October ,  1922. 


n 


THE  WOMAN  AND  THE  LEAVEN 

IN  JAPAN 

PROLOGUE — The  Spreading  Leaven 

In  1869  two  Japanese  women  were  baptized  in 
Tokyo — the  first  Protestant  Christian  women  of 
Japan.  The  first  man  had  been  baptized  five  years 
earlier.  Now  Japan’s  Protestant  Christians  number 
one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand.  The  first  Prates- 
tant  Christian  church  was  organized  in  1872  in  Yoko¬ 
hama.  Now  there  are  one  thousand  three  hundred  and 
fifty  churches,  and  over  a  thousand  more  places  where 
Christianity  is  regularly  preached. 

Sixty  years  ago  Japan’s  only  hope  of  learning  Chris¬ 
tianity  was  through  foreign  missionaries.  Now  there 
are  over  four  thousand  Japanese  Christian  workers  of 
all  sorts.  While  gratefully  accepting  for  their  land 
the  help  of  the  foreign  mission  forces  and  ready  to 
welcome  an  increase  of  them,  the  Japanese  Christians 
have  so  caught  the  missionary  spirit  of  the  Early 
Church  that  there  are  ten  Japanese  missionary  boards 
supporting  Christian  preachers  to  their  own  people 
and  to  other  peoples — Koreans,  Formosans,  Marshall 
Islanders — under  their  flag,  with  incipient  work  in 
China  for  Chinese. 

Since  the  days  when  Mrs.  Hepburn  and  Mrs.  Bal- 
lagh  began  in  1867  to  teach  a  little  group  of  Japanese 

11 


12  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

girls  in  Yokohama,  the  entire  national  school  system 
has  been  developed  from  kindergarten  to  university. 
Yet  the  Christian  school  has  so  far  prospered  and  de¬ 
veloped  that  to-day  about  five  per  cent  of  the  entire 
group  of  those  in  schools  higher  than  elementary  grade 
are  studying  under  Christian  auspices.  The  enrol¬ 
ment  of  Christian  Sunday  schools  is  one  hundred  and 
seventy  thousand,  with  an  average  of  one  teacher  to 
twenty-six  pupils.  From  1912  to  1920  the  population 
of  Japan  proper  increased  six  and  a  half  per  cent.  In 
the  same  eight  years  the  enrolment  of  the  Protestant 
churches  has  increased  eighty-five  per  cent. 

How  has  the  leaven  spread  thus? 

It  is  a  wonderful  story  of  vision  and  inspiration,  of 
prayer  and  toil, — too  great  and  too  full  for  any  one 
little  book.  But  the  part  that  women  have  had  in  it, 
and  are  having,  not  as  separate  from  that  of  men,  but 
as  one  phase  of  a  great  joint  enterprise,  it  is  our  joy¬ 
ful  task  to  sketch  here  together.  And  it  is  further  our 
privilege,  if  God  so  grant  us  faith,  to  see  in  the  ac¬ 
complishments  of  the  past  and  in  the  opportunities  of 
the  present  the  call  to  unflagging  zeal  and  increasing 
earnestness  in  working  for  the  day  when  every  knee 
in  Japan  shall  bow,  not  to  ancestors  in  worship,  not 
to  the  spirit  of  fox  or  badger  in  fear,  nor  to  the  blazing 
sun  in  awe,  not  to  the  abstraction,  Amida,  nor  the  his¬ 
toric  Buddha  nor  the  multitude  of  his  avatars  as 
saviours  from  suffering  and  evil,  but  to  the  one  univer¬ 
sal  Father  and  to  Jesus  Christ,  who  has  revealed  Him. 
The  coming  of  that  day  is  as  sure  as  the  words  that 


Prologue  13 

shall  not  pass  away, — “I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the 
earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me.” 

Note:  As  all  previous  mission  study  textbooks  on  Japan  have 
treated  its  religions,  it  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  here.  Most 
opportunely  there  have  appeared  two  articles  in  “The  Chris¬ 
tian  Movement  in  Japan”  for  1922,  giving  up-to-date  treat¬ 
ment  of  the  two  principal  religions  of  Japan:  Dr.  R.  C.  Arm¬ 
strong’s  “Popular  Buddhism  in  Japan,”  and  Rev.  Albertus 
Pieters’s  “The  Religious  Influence  of  Shinto.”  There  could 
hardly  be  more  appropriate  material  for  the  opening  session 
of  a  mission  study  class  on  Japan.  “The  Christian  Movement” 
is  issued  annually  by  the  united  Christian  forces  of  Japan,  and 
its  two  or  three  latest  volumes,  together  with  the  monthly 
magazine,  The  Japan  Evangelist,  a  journal  of  Christian  work 
in  Japan  issued  under  the  same  auspices,  are  the  most  valuable 
sources  of  current  information  for  students  of  the  condition 
of  Christianity  in  Japan.  Both  may  be  secured  from  the 
Methodist  Publishing  House,  Ginza  Shichome,  Tokyo.  The 
subscription  price  of  The  Japan  Evangelist  is  $2.50  a  year. 


OUTLINE  OF  CHAPTER  ONE 


Then  and  Now 


1.  Japan  Revolutionized  in  Seventy  Years. 

2.  Internationalization. 

3.  Political  and  Social  Progress. 


CHAPTER  ONE 


Then  and  Now. 

Yet  I  doubt  not  through  the  ages  one  increasing  purpose  runs, 
And  the  thoughts  of  men  are  widened  with  the  process  of  the 
suns. 

Not  in  vain  the  distance  beacons.  Forward,  forward  let  us 
range. 

Let  the  great  world  spin  forever  down  the  ringing  grooves 
of  change. 

— Tennyson 

The  Rip  Van  Winkle  of  Japan  was  a  fisherman. 
Enticed  by  a  mermaid  to  a  species  of  Neptune’s  palace 
far  under  the  sea,  there  he  lives  for  a  seemingly  brief 
space  of  time  in  luxurious  oblivion  of  earth;  when  a 
violated  vow  breaks  the  spell,  he  discovers  himself 
back  in  the  world  of  men,  an  old,  old  man  left  by  the 
passing  years  to  behold  an  age  to  v/hich  he  is  a  stranger. 
His  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  or  so  of  absence 
(according  to  the  ancient  historians)  leave  him,  upon 
disenchantment,  no  alternative  but  to  die.  The  valley 
of  Kiso  Fukushima,  through  which  the  central  railroad 
of  Japan  winds  its  way  amid  ever-shifting  scenes  of 
mountain  beauty,  has  its  legend  of  the  spot  where  the 
dire  awakening  took  place. 

1.  Japan  Revolutionized  in  Seventy  Years 

A  modern  Urashima  would  not  need  to  stay  away 
as  long  as  his  prototype  did.  The  seventy  years  that 
have  passed  since  Commodore  Perry  knocked  at  Ja- 


15 


IS  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

pan’s  doors,  are  longer  than  is  needed  to  afford  an 
ample  shock  to  his  sensibilities.  If  he  has  slept  fifty 
years  or  even  less  he  will  find  on  waking  today  enough 
change  of  every  sort  to  make  him  feel  in  a  new  world. 
Western  contacts  have  affected  dress,  architecture, 
food,  home,  customs,  amusements,  public  utilities, 
thoughts,  ideals.  He  will  need  a  new  dictionary  to  un¬ 
derstand  the  language  of  the  day.  Versus  the  old  days 
of  leisurely  travel  on  foot,  or  by  chair  and  jinrikisha, 
he  now  has  to  accommodate  himself  to  electrics,  auto¬ 
mobiles,  and  express  trains.  The  old  lunar  calendar 
by  which  he  regulated  his  days  has  given  way  to  the 
world’s  calendar,  and  spring  is  no  longer  precipitated 
by  New  Year’s  Day — much  poetic  license  to  the  con¬ 
trary.  The  clock,  the  time-table,  the  factory  whistle, 
the  noon  gun,  regulate  New  Japan.  Men  do  not  wear 
their  hair  tied  at  the  crown  of  the  head,  nor  do  samurai 
stalk  the  streets  with  their  two  swords — the  long  and 
the  short — as  under  the  old  regime.  Traffic  police  and 
railway  police  are  some  of  the  recent  additions  to  its 
modern  system  for  the  guardianship  of  the  public 
peace.  The  postal  system  includes  all  forms  of  mail 
and  money  transfer, — in  fact,  Japan  had  parcel  post 
and  postal  savings  departments  before  the  United 
States  did.  Aeroplane  mails  are  being  developed. 
“Movies,”  expositions,  operas,  a  modern  stage, — base¬ 
ball,  tennis,  golf  and  athletic  meets, — institutes,  rallies, 
tournaments,  propaganda,  and  publicity  movements — 
Japan  is  full  of  them.  To  escape  these  changes,  our 
modern  Urashima  would  have  to  go  to  lonely  fishing 


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17 


villages  or  isolated  mountain  towns;  and  even  into 
many  of  these,  electric  bulbs,  daily  newspapers,  and 
telephones  have  penetrated. 

As  a  preliminary  to  getting  acquainted  with  the 
woman  of  new  Japan,  let  us  see  what  some  of  the 
changes  are  that  especially  affect  her  and  her  environ¬ 
ment. 

Language  Made  Over 

Language  in  any  land  is  a  mirror  for  change.  For¬ 
eign  words  have  crowded  into  the  every-day  life  of 
the  Japanese  people  with  many  of  the  articles  they  rep¬ 
resent.  A  missionary  stopping  over  night  in  a  hotel  in 
an  interior  city  chatted  in  the  vernacular  with  the  maid 
who  was  serving  his  evening  meal.  “Do  you  know 
English?”  he  asked.  “O  no,  I  am  an  ignorant  girl. 
How  should  I  know  any  English?”  “But  you  do,”  he 
said.  “What  did  you  just  bring  up  to  light  my  room 
with?”  “ Rampu ”  (lamp)  she  replied.  “Yes,  and 
what  did  you  use  to  light  it?”  “ Matchi she  said. 
“And  what  language  are  those  words?”  “Why,  Jap¬ 
anese,”  she  supposed.  “No,  they  are  English.  And 
what  did  you  spread  on  the  quilts  when  you  laid  out 
the  bedding  for  me?”  “ Shiitsu And  so  on,  through 
a  list  of  common  words  to  the  “inki”  with  which  he 
had  written  in  the  hotel  registry.  Besides,  there  is  a 
multitude  of  new  Chinese  compounds  that  have  been 
created  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  age, — the  new 
thought-world  of  science,  philosophy,  economics,  reli¬ 
gion.  As  Christianity  lifted  the  old  Greek  word  for 
“love”  out  of  the  mire,  so  has  it  done  with  the  Japanese 


18  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

word  “ai,”  the  meaning  of  which  has  been  transformed 
into  a  Christian  fullness.  There  was  no  word  to  ex¬ 
press  the  meaning  of  “service,”  so  one  has  evolved  in 
recent  years.  “Inspiration,”  “revival,”  “democracy,” 
“strike,”  are  samples  of  words  that  have  been  taken 
over  bodily  by  transliteration  into  Japanese.  The  word 
for  God,  Kami,  that  used  to  be  vague  because  of  its 
applicability  to  any  number  of  nature  gods  and  god¬ 
desses,  deified  heroes,  and  spirits  of  ancestors,  has  now 
for  all  educated  people  a  new  content  corresponding  to 
that  of  the  English  word  when  capitalized. 

Home  Interiors 

One  of  the  most  important  changes  now  in  process 
is  that  of  house-styles.  In  the  larger  cities  there  is  a 
strong  tendency  among  the  educated  classes,  accus¬ 
tomed  at  school  to  chairs  or  benches,  to  desert  their 
cushions  on  the  white,  soft-matted  floor  in  favor  of  a 
desk  or  table  with  seats  to  match.  Statistics  from  the 
physical  examinations  of  young  men  of  the  nation  for 
military  service  have  shown  an  increase  in  average 
height  in  the  years  since  modern  education  has  been 
introduced.  Doubtless,  sitting  on  chairs  in  school  is 
partly  responsible  for  this.  Having  a  table  with  chairs 
at  home,  however,  means  space,  and  space  sometimes 
means  an  additional  room  in  one’s  dwelling;  so  that 
there  is  now  evolving  in  Japan  an  interesting  type  of 
what  one  might  call  “Eurasian”  architecture — a  mix¬ 
ture,  or  at  least  a  juxtaposition,  of  models  from  the 
East  and  West.  In  calling  in  upper  middle-class 
homes,  one  is  not  infrequently  ushered  into  a  foreign- 


Then  and  Now 


19 


style  room,  or  a  Japanese  room  fitted  up  with  foreign 
furniture.  In  this  case,  slats  will  have  been  nailed  on 
the  bottom  of  the  table  and  chair  legs,  to  prevent  their 
making  indentations  on  the  soft  floor-mats. 

The  Japanese  house  has  of  course  an  intimate  con¬ 
nection  with  the  woman  problem.  Built  so  that  two 
or  three  of  its  outside  walls  are  thrown  open  during  the 
day  and  closed  with  a  cumbersome  procession  of  slid¬ 
ing  wooden  doors  at  night,  the  Japanese  house  is  easy 
to  rob  if  left  even  for  a  few  minutes  without  an  occu¬ 
pant.  The  frequent  reason  for  a  woman’s  inability  to 
attend  a  meeting  or  accept  an  invitation  is,  not  “I 
couldn’t  leave  the  baby” — (for  she  would  take  the  baby 
with  her),  but  “I  couldn’t  leave  the  house.”  Even 
when  the  outside  doors — the  “armor  doors”  as  the 
word  literally  means — are  slid  into  place  and  fastened, 
the  Japanese  has  a  sense  of  insecurity,  both  from 
thieves  and  from  fire,  in  leaving  a  house  without  an 
occupant.  Said  a  Japanese  reporter  to  me  one  day  at 
a  dinner  given  to  newspaper  men — “Your  women  of 
the  West  can  turn  a  key  in  a  lock  and  go  out  with  ease 
of  mind.  But  our  Japanese  women  will  not  be  truly 
emancipated  to  take  their  share  of  activities  outside  the 
home  until  Japanese  architecture  is  reformed.” 

Shoes  vs.  Clogs 

House  styles  have  an  interesting  connection  with 
wearing  apparel — footwear  first  of  all.  An  absolute 
rule  in  a  genuine  Japanese  house  forbids  stepping  into 
it  in  footgear  that  has  come  in  contact  with  the  ground. 
Sandals,  clogs,  shoes,  whatever  they  may  be,  must  be 


20  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

shed  at  the  entrance.  Shoes  are  of  course  much  more 
trouble  to  get  in  and  out  of  than  sandals  or  clogs.  Yet 
they  allow  so  much  more  freedom  in  walking,  and  are 
so  inalienable  a  part  of  a  European  man’s  costume,  that 
they  have  come  into  great  vogue  for  men,  and  are 
increasingly  popular  with  girls  and  women.  One  com¬ 
mon  style  of  shoe  is  that  sometimes  called  in  America 
the  ‘‘nurses’  shoe”  or  the  “Congress  shoe,”  without 
fastenings  but  with  rubber  insertions  at  the  sides  to 
allow  of  pulling  on  and  off  easily.  Missionaries  have 
often  used  such  shoes ;  missionary  slang  has,  for  self- 
evident  reasons,  labeled  them  “evangelastics.”  Public 
buildings  on  the  modern  plan  permit  now  the  wearing 
of  shoes  straight  in  from  the  street ;  but  clogs  must  still 
be  changed  at  the  door,  and  for  theatres  and  assembly 
halls  an  elaborate  amount  of  footgear-checking  has 
often  to  be  done.  To  take  an  hour  in  emptying  a  hall 
of  a  thousand  people,  however,  tries  the  patience  of  the 
modern  Orient;  and  a  frequent  present  practice  is  to 
supply  at  the  door  newspapers  in  which  to  wrap  clogs ; 
then  each  person  carries  his  own  clogs  into  meeting 
and  out  again.  The  hall  in  the  meantime  has  provided 
him  with  a  substitute  pair  of  public  sandals. 

In  the  rapid  growth  of  the  shoe  habit  in  Japan,  there 
is  something  to  be  deplored.  The  Occident  is  not  yet 
shod  with  so  much  regard  to  foot  hygiene  as  to  make 
it  a  safe  guide  for  an  inquiring  people;  and  foolish  and 
deforming  models  from  the  West  are  seen  in  Japan’s 
shoe  stores  and  in  her  streets.  The  desire  to  be  taller 
adds  to  the  temptation  to  wear  high  heels.  The  draw- 


. 


A  MODERN  JAPANESE  HOME 


BRAIDING  HAT  STRAW 

A  Home  Industry 


Then  and  Now 


21 


back  of  the  Japanese  clogs  and  sandals  is  the  shuffling, 
dragging  habit  they  induce,  with  a  consequent  lack  of 
spring  and  freedom  in  the  use  of  the  ankle.  The  native 
footwear  has,  however,  developed  a  very  healthy  foot. 
Prof.  H.  H.  Wilder  of  Smith  College,  who  has  made 
some  study  of  ink-prints  of  the  soles  of  different  races, 
says  that  whereas  in  America  ninety  out  of  one  hun¬ 
dred  prints  of  feet  show  arch  trouble,  the  reverse  pro¬ 
portion  holds  in  Japan.  The  thong  of  the  sandal,  pass¬ 
ing  between  the  large  toe  and  its  neighbor,  helps  to 
strengthen  the  arch  muscles. 

Must  the  Kimono  Go? 

To  return  to  the  relation  of  house  styles  to  costume, 
the  kimono  that  fits  the  body  closely  below  the  hips 
lends  itself  with  the  perfection  of  neatness  to  the  Jap¬ 
anese  sitting  posture  on  the  floor;  the  plaited  skirt  of 
the  modern  school-girl  or  the  professional  woman,  on 
the  contrary,  seems  sprawly  on  the  floor,  and  gets  badly 
wrinkled  in  both  front  and  back  by  one’s  sitting  on 
one’s  knees.  European  costume  for  men,  too,  becomes 
hopelessly  baggy  at  the  knees  when  indulged  in  for 
Japanese  sitting.  A  Japanese  man  wearing  European 
costume  at  business  or  in  his  office  generally  changes  to 
Japanese  costume  on  his  return  home  to  the  mats  at 
evening.  For  business  purposes  he  prefers  the  Euro¬ 
pean.  One  Japanese  professor  said  to  another  who  had 
clung  persistently  to  the  native  costume  even  in  his 
classroom,  “But  if  I  wear  it,  I  find  my  kimono  sleeves 
rubbing  the  blackboard  when  I  write,  and  my  flowing 


22  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

haori  (a  kind  of  dress  coat)  catching  on  the  furniture.” 
“So  do  I,”  admitted  the  other. 

This  transitional  period  in  which  a  man  needs  both 
kinds  of  outfit  is  acknowledged  to  be  very  expensive. 
But  the  men  of  Japan  are  very  extensively  using  both. 
They  have  been  the  first  to  make  a  radical  departure 
from  the  traditional  national  costume.  Next  come  the 
children.  European  style  of  dress  is  recommending 
itself  to  thoughtful  parents  as  preferable  to  the  Jap¬ 
anese  style  for  both  economic  and  hygienic  reasons. 
One  pastor’s  wife  declares  that  she  now  dresses  her 
three  girls  and  three  boys  on  little  more  than  half  what 
it  cost  before  to  clothe  them  in  Japanese  style. 

Freedom  or  Warmth 

Hygienically,  European  dress  allows  a  child’s  limbs 
greater  freedom,  it  is  easier  to  keep  clean,  it  is  lighter 
weight  in  winter  than  the  Japanese  wadded  garments, 
and  it  distributes  warmth  more  evenly  over  the  body. 
In  a  recent  Sunday  School  exercise  on  Flower  Sunday, 
in  one  of  the  large  Japanese  churches,  twenty  out  of 
twenty-six  in  a  primary  class  that  went  on  the  platform 
to  sing  were  wearing  European  costume;  in  an  inter¬ 
mediate  class  of  girls,  seventeen  out  of  thirty-six  were 
in  western  style.  White  and  somber  blues  and  browns 
do  not  suit  the  children  as  well  aesthetically  as  their 
own  traditional  combinations  do.  The  color  schemes 
that  the  nation  has  worked  out  in  its  costumes  for  gen¬ 
erations  and  centuries  are  ideal  with  the  Japanese  hair 
and  complexion,  and  one  misses  a  certain  subtle  satis¬ 
faction  of  that  sort  when  the  native  garb  is  discarded 


Then  and  Now 


23 


for  the  foreign.  Doubtless,  however,  the  future  will 
work  out  some  compromise  plan  by  which  combina¬ 
tions  or  modifications  of  styles  will  utilize  the  good 
points  of  both. 

A  change  to  European  costume  makes  necessary  a 
change  in  methods  of  heating.  The  hibachi  or  brazier 
that  is  the  universal  heater  in  a  Japanese  house  is  suf¬ 
ficient  to  warm  one’s  hands  and  face  when  one  is  sit¬ 
ting  on  one’s  feet  and  wearing  padded  garments  to  keep 
the  rest  of  one’s  self  at  a  comfortable  temperature.  But 
when  one  is  sitting  on  a  chair  and  wearing  European 
clothes,  it  becomes  necessary  to  have  a  more  diffused 
and  even  heat.  Stoves,  gas  fire-places,  furnaces  are  all 
being  tried  out  in  Japan  today. 

Points  in  Favor  of  European  Costume 

The  indigenous  style  of  underwear  for  girls  and 
women  consists  of  a  shirt  shaped  like  the  upper  half  of 
a  kimono  (with  variable  sleeve-styles)  and  a  petticoat 
like  the  lower  half  to  be  folded  round  the  body  and 
tied  at  the  waist.  Increasingly,  however,  the  foreign- 
style  union-suit  is  being  adopted,  either  in  jersey  weave 
or  cotton  cloth,  especially  for  men  and  children.  The 
traditional  woman’s  dress,  the  kimono,  is  held  in  place 
by  bands  or  soft  strips  of  cloth  tied  around  the  hips 
and  around  the  waist.  Its  crowning  glory  is  the  obi, 
one  foot  or  less  wide  and  from  ten  to  twelve  and  a  half 
feet  long,  lined  and  interlined  (except  for  lighter  varie¬ 
ties),  doubled  and  wound  twice  round  the  waist  and 
arranged  at  the  back  in  one  of  several  conventional 
forms  as  fashion  or  occasion  may  dictate.  The  charm 


24  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

of  the  kimono  lines  around  neck,  shoulder  and  bust, 
the  grace  of  the  long  sleeve,  the  trimness  and  elegance 
of  the  well-selected  and  well-adjusted  costume  hardly 
need  be  dwelt  on  here.  It  is  not  only  the  sentimentalist 
among  foreign  visitors  to  Japan,  but  the  old  seasoned 
resident  as  well,  that  grants  ungrudging  admiration  to 
the  beauty  and  modesty  of  the  completed  product  of 
the  Japanese  costumer,  and  that  deplores  ill-guided 
attempts  to  substitute  European  models  for  Japanese. 
But  the  attempts  at  this  substitution  are  daily  becoming 
more  and  more  successful  and  widespread  and  it  is 
worth  while  to  look  for  the  underlying  reasons. 

Imperial  Court  Adopts  European  Dress 

The  Imperial  Court  has  from  the  beginning  of  the 
modern  era  adopted  European  dress  as  official,  pre¬ 
sumably  for  diplomatic  reasons.  Hospital  nurses  and 
Red  Cross  nurses  wear  a  uniform  modeled  on  the 
European,  for  practical  and  hygienic  reasons.  Imita¬ 
tion  and  love  of  novelty,  that  might  be  large  factors  in 
the  West,  do  not  so  strongly  affect  the  conservative 
Japanese  woman.  We  must  look  further  to  account 
for  the  tendency  of  women  more  and  more  to  consider 
the  advantages  of  European  costume. 

“Really,  Japanese  dress  is  very  awkward,”  said  my 
Japanese  hostess  one  morning  at  the  breakfast  table, 
as  she  saved  her  sleeve  from  too  close  contact  with  the 
electric  plate  where  the  toast  was  browning.  If  she 
had  been  at  work  in  her  kitchen,  she  would  have  been 
wearing  a  tasuki  or  cord,  looping  back  the  sleeves  and 
crossing  behind  the  shoulders.  But  that  badge  of  labor 


Then  and  Now 


25 


could  not  be  worn  at  mealtimes  or  with  company .  (And 
if  you  challenge  the  fact  of  bread  at  a  Japanese  meal, 
let  me  explain  that  white  baker’s  bread  can  be  gotten 
now  in  all  of  Japan’s  large  cities,  and  that  this  lady 
was  merely  giving  me  such  a  breakfast  of  fruit  and 
corn  flakes  and  marmalade  as  her  husband,  after  the 
years  he  had  spent  abroad  before  his  marriage,  pre¬ 
ferred.)  “I  have  just  bought  this  electric  plate,”  she 
went  on ;  “you  know  I  let  my  maid  go  last  month,  and 
this  is  the  very  first  thing  I  bought  with  the  money 
that  is  being  saved  by  not  keeping  help.  This  lightens 
work,  too,  you  see,  as  it  saves  much  time  over  getting  a 
charcoal  fire  started  for  cooking.”  Hers  was  a  home 
of  the  upper  middle  class.  She  had  been  married  about 
two  years,  and  illness  in  the  family  had  necessitated 
economizing  by  a  reduction  in  running  expenses. 

Japanese  Costume  Inconvenient,  Expensive 
“But  to  go  back  to  clothes,”  she  went  on,  “Japanese 
dress  costs  so  much.  For  instance,  a  good  kimono  will 
have  crepe  for  the  facing  that  binds  the  edge  of  the 
skirt.  Two  or  three  wearings,  if  one  walks  at  all  vig¬ 
orously,  will  go  right  through  that  crepe,  so  it  really  is 
cheaper  to  ride  in  a  jinrikisha  and  save  the  wear  and 
tear.  Then  our  wash  dresses  have  to  be  ripped  to 
pieces  for  washing  and  put  together  again  afterward, 
so  that  it  takes  a  lot  of  time  if  you  do  it  yourself,  and 
costs  if  you  send  it  out.  For  footgear,  a  pair  of  geta 
(clogs)  may  cost  four  or  five  yen,  but  they  won’t  wear 
but  a  few  weeks  if  one  is  leading  an  active  life.  I 


26  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

haven’t  had  to  have  any  new  dresses  since  I  was 
married — ” 

Here  I  interrupted  to  ask  how  many  she  had  in  her 
trousseau. 

“One  hundred,”  she  replied.  “You  know  that  in 
Japan,  when  the  yuino  or  engagement  gifts  are  ex¬ 
changed  and  the  agreement  thus  formally  concluded, 
the  bride  sends  with  her  gift  to  the  groom  a  list  of  the 
things  she  will  bring  with  her  to  her  new  home.  I  put 
down  100  kimonos  on  mine,  though  I  really  had  a  few 
more.  They  were  not  all  new,  you  know,  and  included 
all  kinds,  of  course,  summer  and  winter  and  inter¬ 
mediate,  lined  and  unlined,  work  dresses,  ceremonial 
dresses  with  the  family  crest  on,  and  so  on.  I  had  only 
three  wedding  dresses  in  my  wedding  set,  though  some 
people  have  five  and  some  even  seven.” 

“Do  you  mean  the  white,  red,  and  black  of  the 
ancient  custom  ?”  I  asked  ;  for  tradition  has  had  a  bride 
wear  white — the  funeral  color — when  she  leaves  her 
own  home,  as  henceforth  dead  to  that,  put  on  red  (the 
child’s  color)  when  she  enters  the  bridegroom’s  home 
into  which  she  is  now  as  it  were  newly-born,  and  don 
black,  the  unchanging  color  of  fidelity  and  chastity,  for 
the  consummation  of  the  marriage  ceremony. 

“No,”  said  this  modern  bride,  “one  is  for  the  cere¬ 
mony  itself ;  one  for  the  announcement  dinner  that  fol¬ 
lows  it,  and  one  to  wear  in  making  first  calls  on  your 
friends,  properly  the  next  day.  Those  three,  of  course, 
I  had  to  have,  but  I’m  sorry  I  had  so  many  others 
because  although  the  cut  doesn’t  change  much  in  Japan, 


Then  and  Now 


27 


fashions  do  alter  in  fabrics,  colors,  and  patterns,  with 
every  season.  I’m  bound  to  wear  these  out;  but  when 
I  have  to  get  a  new  outfit  in  a  few  years  more,  I  am 
seriously  wondering  whether  European  dress  would 
not  be  less  expensive.” 

These  remarks  call  to  mind  some  figures  that  were 
given  at  an  economic  exhibition  in  Tokyo  in  1918  or 
1919.  The  figures  gave  what  percentage  of  a  year’s 
income  was  commonly  spent  in  different  countries  on 
a  wedding  outfit.  From  8%  in  England,  they  rose  at 
varying  degrees  among  the  nations  of  the  European 
continent  to  higher  figures  in  Asia,  coming  to  a  climax 
with  300%  in  China,  and  250%  in  Japan.  The  moral, 
of  course,  was  to  point  economy. 

The  hygienic  motive  is  also  to  be  considered.  The 
closeness  of  the  Japanese  costume  is  hampering  to 
shoulder,  trunk,  and  lower  limbs.  The  obi  is  hot  and 
heavy,  in  spite  of  the  modern  tendency  to  lessen  both 
size  and  weight.  The  confining  band  around  the 
hips  and  the  fact  that  the  narrow  kimono  flies  open 
with  a  long  stride,  hinder  freedom  of  leg-motion  in 
walking.  The  Japanese  woman  in  native  costume  is 
forced  to  walk  more  from  her  knees  than  from  her 
hips.  In  round-dancing,  which  is  of  recent  years  find¬ 
ing  its  way  into  the  social  circles  of  the  cosmopolitan 
centers,  the  motion  from  the  knees  in  Japanese  cos¬ 
tume  becomes  accentuated. 

No  Curling-tongs  for  Japanese  Women 

The  ancient  styles  of  hair-dressing — elaborately 
oiled,  tied,  and  moulded  forms  done  to  last  for  days  at 


28  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

a  time  and  hence  necessitating  wooden  neck-rests  for 
pillows  at  night — are  still  common  outside  the  ranks  of 
school-girls  and  professional  or  business  women.  One 
wonders  sometimes  at  their  persistence.  But  after  all, 
the  oil  and  the  ties  and  the  moulds  are  like  curling- 
tongs,  hairnets,  and  “rats” — merely  the  set  of  tools  by 
which  refractory  locks  are  subdued  to  conform  to  an 
aesthetic  ideal  whose  permanent  elements,  apart  from 
temporary  vagaries  of  fashion,  have  commended  them¬ 
selves  to  womanhood  down  through  the  centuries.  The 
so-called  “western”  styles  of  hairdressing  are,  how¬ 
ever,  so  common  as  to  cause  no  comment  except  in 
cases  of  marked  variation  from  the  normal  pompadour 
or  part.  The  Japanese  woman  instinctively  dislikes 
curly  or  wavy  hair.  Hence  tongs  and  curling-pins  are 
uncalled  for  on  her  dresser.  But  all  forms  of  coiffure 
consistent  with  the  ideal  of  straight,  glossy,  severely 
disciplined  locks,  are  being  tried  out  in  Japan  to-day. 

In  the  early  years  of  Meiji  (the  era  1868-1912,  the 
“Enlightened  Reign”  in  which  the  great  modern  re¬ 
forms  were  inaugurated)  it  was  the  Christian  Japanese 
women  who  pioneered  in  introducing  Western  styles 
of  head-dress.  The  objections  to  the  old  style  were  the 
oil,  and  the  time  consumed.  Professional  hair-dress¬ 
ers,  too,  were  notorious  gossips,  and  sometimes  go- 
betweens  for  illicit  negotiations. 

No  Blackened  Teeth  for  Christian  Women 

Other  points  of  appearance  in  regard  to  which  the 
Christian  women  pioneered  a  protest,  were  shaven  eye¬ 
brows  and  blackened  teeth.  The  old  notion  that  fos- 


I 


DAILY  VACATION  BIBLE  SCHOOL 

Woman’s  Christian  College 


Then  and  Now 


29 


tered  these  things  for  a  married  woman  was  that  now 
that  she  had  a  husband  she  must  render  herself  unat¬ 
tractive  to  other  men.  For  a  Christian  woman  in  those 
days  to  fly  in  the  face  of  custom  and  keep  her  eyebrows 
and  white  teeth  required  a  degree  of  courage  that  may 
be  difficult  to  appreciate  in  America  where  individual 
preference  in  personal  styles  has  so  long  been  re¬ 
spected.  But  the  old  forms  fled  quickly  in  the  face  of 
modern  ideas. 

An  elderly  Christian  woman  of  the  early  days — so 
runs  the  story — -was  followed  on  the  street  one  day  by 
a  respectable  man  of  middle  age,  who,  coming  up  to 
her  at  her  entrance,  said,  “Pardon  me — I  think  you  are 
a  Christian  because  your  eyebrows  are  not  shaven  nor 
your  teeth  blackened.  I  have  come  up  from  the  coun¬ 
try  to  find  a  daughter-in-law.  I  want  a  Christian.  Can 
you  help  me  find  one  ?”  And  she  did. 

2.  Internationalization 

The  great  modern  process  of  internationalization, 
progressing  in  all  lands,  has  probably  made  in  no  coun¬ 
try  greater  proportional  strides  than  in  Japan.  Inter¬ 
nationalization  depends  on  states  of  mind  and  reveals 
itself  in  multitudes  of  states  of  body.  Shimaguni 
Konjo,  the  “island  nation  spirit/’  is  the  phrase  by 
which  Japan  denominates  provincialism.  One  reason 
for  the  extent  to  which  foreign  clothes,  manners,  and 
houses  are  being  adopted  is  the  growth  of  the  sense 
of  universality  in  humanity,  a  natural  consequence  of 
the  national  development  from  a  hermit  nation  seventy 


30  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

years  ago  to  one  of  the  world’s  powers  to-day.  Dr. 
Ebina,  now  president  of  Doshisha  University,  was 
once  addressing  an  audience  on  the  subject  of  inter¬ 
nationalism,  and  said  in  effect :  '‘Why  is  our  population 
now  so  much  larger  than  when  we  opened  our  doors 
to  the  West?  Is  it  because  our  knowledge  of  hygiene 
has  improved  so  that  life  is  better  cared  for  and  pre¬ 
served?  Doubtless  in  part,  but  that  does  not  wholly 
account  for  it.  No,  in  those  days  we  had  to  keep  our 
population  down  by  killing  the  extra  babies.*  We 
were  not  any  less  tender-hearted  then  than  now,  but 
there  wasn’t  food  for  any  more  people — we  had  only 
what  we  could  raise  on  our  own  islands;  the  govern¬ 
ment  had  to  regulate  our  living  by  making  severe 
sumptuary  laws  and  limiting  families.  But  after  we 
started  contact  with  the  outside  world  and  began  to 
import  foodstuffs,  we  were  no  longer  driven  to  in¬ 
human  acts  to  save  the  nation  from  starvation.  We 
have  greatly  profited  by  our  interdependence  with 
other  nations.” 


Cosmopolitan  Food 

Lists  of  imports  tell  how  many  bushels  of  wheat  and 
rice  and  how  many  tons  of  canned  goods  land  annually 

*One  of  the  early  Christian  pastors  was  a  child  saved  from  such  a 
premature  death.  His  father,  under  the  dire  pressure  of  circumstance, 
had  decided  that  this  baby  was  the  one  too  many,  and  started  with 
the  child  to  the  canal  to  drown  him.  But  the  little  fellow  in  his  arms 
looked  up  and  smiled  into  his  face,  and  the  father  could  not  compel 
himself  to  carry  out  his  purpose.  He  turned  back  and  took  the  child 
home.  A  son  of  the  next  generation  is  now  in  the  ministry. 

Needless  to  say,  infanticide  is  heavily  penalized  by  modern  Jap¬ 
anese  law. 


Then  and  Now 


31 


on  Japan’s  shores.  But  Irish  potatoes,  tomatoes,  lettuce, 
radishes,  and  other  garden  produce,  as  well  as  many 
garden  flowers,  have  been  introduced  by  seed  from  the 
West  and  have  now  established  themselves  and  become 
naturalized  products. 

Milk,  Cream,  and  Strawberries 
Cow's  milk  as  an  article  of  diet  was  practically 
unknown  in  Old  Japan.  In  the  beginning  of  the 
modern  era,  it  was  sold  in  small  measurefuls  for  the 
sick  only.  Now  many  modern  dairies  have  been 
opened,  and  in  some  places  butter,  cream,  and  cheese 
are  being  produced.  Small  bottles  of  hot  milk  are 
peddled  at  the  railway  stations — as  are  also  boxes 
of  sandwiches,  and  in  the  season,  ice-cream  cones  and 
strawberries.  In  general  the  lack  of  grazing  facilities 
prevents  the  development  of  rich  milk.  The  fields  are 
worked  intensively  with  two  or  more  crops  a  year  of 
grain  or  vegetables  or  both,  and  hillsides  are  frequently 
covered  with  a  tough  bamboo  grass,  whose  sharp 
leaves,  cutting  cattle  mouths,  are  unsuitable  for  graz¬ 
ing.  In  the  northern  island  of  Hokkaido,  with  its  cli¬ 
mate  and  soil  of  the  north  temperate  zone  and  its  large 
districts  opened  for  colonization,  splendid  dairy  farms 
have  been  established.  The  best  known  one  is  that  of 
the  Christian  family,  Utsunomiya,  whose  butter  goes 
by  parcel  post  all  over  the  empire  and  helps  the  older 
missionaries  to  forget  their  ancient  anxieties  lest  the 
tub  butter  or  the  can  butter  from  abroad  should  have 
turned  rancid  on  the  journey.  This  progressive  Jap¬ 
anese  family  is  seeking  to  work  out  the  best  dairying 


32  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

methods  for  Japan.  One  of  its  sons  with  his  wife  is 
now  in  Denmark  studying  the  methods  used  there  to 
bring  them  back  for  Hokkaido  application. 

How  About  Chopsticks? 

The  availability  of  so  many  articles  of  diet  from  the 
West  has  brought  the  Japanese  housekeeper  new  prob¬ 
lems  of  cooking  and  serving.  There  is  a  world  of 
domestic  science  and  practical  problems  opening  before 
her  in  her  kitchen  and  dining-room.  Knives  and  forks 
and  spoons  begin  to  creep  in.  Their  advantage  over 
chopsticks  is  that  not  so  much  detailed  preparation  is 
required  for  the  food  they  are  to  handle.  Food  to  be 
eaten  with  chopsticks  must  be  correspondingly  cut  up 
in  the  kitchen,  unless  it  can  be  easily  broken  up  or 
handled  as  a  unit  to  bite  from.  Individual  portions  are 
served,  thus  increasing  the  housewife’s  labor.  A  Chris¬ 
tian  pastor  in  a  talk  to  young  girls  once  explained  how 
his  household  had  simplified  its  meal-serving.  “We 
have  each  one  large  dish  apiece  instead  of  a  number  of 
small  ones,  and  each  one  serves  himself  at  the  table. 
This  saves  the  mother  a  great  deal  of  time  and  work.” 
Western  dishes  are  creeping  in  on  many  menus ;  dining- 
cars  and  restaurants  frequently  serve  both  foreign  and 
Japanese  meals  to  order.  Cooking  and  dressmaking 
classes  are  among  the  most  attractive  forms  of  service 
that  a  missionary  woman  can  offer. 

Enterprising  Christian  Native  Women 

Some  devoted  Japanese  Christian  women  are  feeling 
the  powerful  urge  to  help  their  fellow-women  to  better 


js 


A  CHRISTIAN  BRIDE,  1922 


Then  and  Now 


33 


living  through  means  like  these.  One,  the  wife  of  a 
Christian  business  man,  proprietor  of  a  large  dry  goods 
store,  had  a  two  years’  training  at  the  Boston  -Cooking 
School  when  young.  Now  she  conducts  large  free 
classes  in  foreign  cooking  for  the  women  of  her  com¬ 
munity.  Another,  the  wife  of  Prof.  Morimoto  of 
Sapporo  Agricultural  College,  was  in  America  with  her 
husband  during  his  period  of  study  at  Johns  Hopkins 
and  herself  studied  domestic  science.  She  is  an  en¬ 
thusiast  on  the  right  way  of  doing  household  tasks,  and 
helps  her  husband  in  the  editing  of  a  magazine  “for  the 
betterment  of  Japanese  homes.” 

Mrs.  Motoko  Hani  is  another  Christian  woman  who 
is  having  a  wide  influence  for  good.  She  publishes  in 
Tokyo  a  monthly  magazine,  “The  Woman’s  Com¬ 
panion,”  that  has  an  extensive  circulation,  and  fur¬ 
nishes  information  about  dress,  food,  and  other  do¬ 
mestic  subjects.  It  is  said  that  Mrs.  Hani,  more  than 
any  other  person,  has  brought  into  its  present  vogue 
European  dress  for  children.  A  sales  department  and 
(in  1922)  a  summer  school  for  European  dress-making 
add  concreteness  to  the  magazine  matter.  Consulta¬ 
tions  about  personal  problems  are  sometimes  made 
through  the  magazine,  and  a  truly  Christian  attitude 
and  spirit  are  illustrated  in  the  advice  given. 

3.  Political  and  Social  Progress 

The  social  and  political  changes  in  woman’s  position 
are  hardly  less  striking  than  the  changes  in  her  per¬ 
sonal  appearance  and  her  housekeeping.  The  one  new 


34  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

modern  restriction  on  woman’s  sphere  regards  the 
Throne.  The  history  of  Japan  records  nine  reigning 
empresses ;  but  the  constitution  of  the  Empire,  adopted 
in  1889,  like  the  Salic  Law  of  France,  forbids  a  wom¬ 
an’s  accession  to  the  crown.  In  the  early  years  of 
modern  Japan,  the  general  public  was  little  encouraged 
to  take  part  in  political  affairs.  Students  were  not  ex¬ 
pected  to  read  newspapers  or  to  know  about  govern¬ 
ment  matters.  No  wonder  then  that  women,  having  as 
yet  little  education  for  public-mindness,  were  included 
with  minors  in  the  law  that  prohibited  not  only  their 
promoting  of  political  meetings,  but  even  their  attend¬ 
ance  at  such  gatherings.  Last  spring  (1922)  I  congratu¬ 
lated  a  Japanese  friend  on  the  birth  of  a  little  daughter. 
“What  have  you  named  her?”  I  asked.  “Haru  ko,” 
was  the  reply.  “We  write  it  with  the  character  for 
governing;  you  know  the  Diet  has  just  repealed  that 
law  forbidding  women  to  have  anything  to  do  with 
politics.  The  name  of  that  law  begins  with  the  char¬ 
acter  chi ,  or  haru;  so  we  chose  that  for  our  baby  to 
commemorate  this  important  fact  in  the  progress  of 
women  in  Japan.” 

Advance  of  Women  Towards  Equality 
In  the  olden  times  a  man’s  wife  never  walked  beside 
him  on  the  street;  if  she  accompanied  him,  it  was  by 
following.  Now-a-days  it  is  no  unusual  thing  in  pro¬ 
gressive  centers  to  see  a  couple  walking  side  by  side. 
The  old  derogatory  forms  of  speech,  applied  to  one’s 
wife  because  required  by  a  sense  of  proper  humility 
when  referring  to  one’s  own  possessions,  are  passing 


Then  and  Now 


35 


into  desuetude.  A  gentleman  of  the  old  school  may 
still  use  the  epistolary  Chinese  terms,  “gusai”  (foolish 
wife)  or  “keisai”  (“thorn-wife”)  in  writing  of  his 
wife.  But  the  younger  generation  feels  no  compunc¬ 
tion  in  leaving  off  the  qualifying  word.  Nor  is  a  mod¬ 
ern  man,  when  asked  how  many  children  he  has,  so 
likely  to  follow  the  ancient  precedent  and  reply  with 
the  number  of  sons  only,  omitting  the  daughters.  The 
four  factors  operating  all  the  world  over  to  rouse 
women — education,  religion,  economic  pressure,  social 
organization — have  brought  the  Japanese  woman  out 
of  her  ancient  limitations  into  a  world  of  unbounded 
possibilities. 


SELECTIONS 

The  letters  and  essays  of  the  students  in  Japanese  Chris¬ 
tian  colleges  are  flashlight  pictures  of  Japan,  past,  present, 
and  to  come.  The  two  quotations  from  English  themes  which 
follow  suggest  two  phases  of  the  woman  movement  in  Japan. 

Woman's  Field 

“Today  more  than  half  of  the  human  race  are  the  women 
.  .  .  .  Now  all  fields  are  calling  for  woman.  We  must  stand 
up  without  any  delay.  Japanese  women,  however,  are  still 
dreaming  and  are  living  in  the  old  idea  of  the  Orient.  Con¬ 
fucius  says  in  his  book,  ‘Women  and  fools  cannot  be  taught.’ 
Shakespeare  says,  ‘Frailty,  thy  name  is  woman.’  Most  of  the 
women  in  Japan  do  not  feel  shame  that  she  is  treated  as 
those  words.  Though  some  educated  women  are  rising  up  to 
shake  off  the  disgraceful  yoke  of  the  old  idea,  they  are  only 
few.  We  cannot  find  any  reason  why  we  must  be  under  the 
man’s  feet,  and  yet  we  don’t  declare  the  woman  to  be  above 
the  man  like  some  women  who  cry  for  their  privilege,  mis- 


36  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

understanding  their  real  standpoint,  only  being  carried  by 
the  breast  of  the  current  thoughts. 

“God  is  always  fair.  He  has  given  the  man  a  strong  body, 
brave  soul,  and  field  which  only  he  can  cultivate.  The  woman 
is  given  also  her  own  field  which  can  be  cultivated  only  by 
her  gentleness,  and  her  love  which  God  has  given  especially 
to  her.  Using  her  privilege,  she  has  to  act  freely  in  her  own 
field.  There  is  no  need  to  be  just  like  an  Oriental  princess 
of  the  olden  days — that  period  had  gone  already.  Some 
women — the  so-called  awakened  women, — are  demanding  to 
be  given  suffrage;  but  before  that  they  must  themselves  make 
an  effort  to  be  treated  as  a  human  being  for  (by)  their  free 
work  in  their  own  field.  No  longer  can  the  women  endure 
their  slave-like  treatment. 

“Wife  must  be  wife,  not  high  maid-servant;  mother  must  be 
mother,  not  nurse;  human  being  must  be  human  being.  Wom¬ 
an  is  not  a  decoration  of  home,  but  a  living  spirit,  or  light, — 
this  is  the  idea  which  the  strong,  new  woman  who  is  going 
to  save  her  sisters  from  their  poor  condition  is  proclaiming 
to-day  in  Japan. 

“But  what  is  the  field  for  the  woman?  I  call  it  the  world 
in  which  the  woman  can  act  freely,  rather  that  field  in  which 
only  woman  can  work  and  where  the  work,  moreover,  is  most 
effectual  in  the  woman’s  hand. 

“Since  the  great  war,  woman’s  field  has  been  much  enlarged, 
but  she  must  be  very  careful  about  the  borders.  She  must 
not  forget  her  standpoint  because,  if  she  loses  her  nature,  it 
means  to  lose  her  whole  opportunity.  There  is  an  interesting 
story  which  illustrates  our  condition:  a  tortoise  which  had 
been  created  to  walk  on  the  ground  one  day  wished  that  he 
could  fly  in  the  sky.  He  asked  an  eagle  to  take  him  with 
him,  but  before  he  flew  very  high,  he  slipped  off  and  broke 
his  beautiful  shell.  This  story  teaches  us  the  poor  results 
of  misusing  one’s  nature.  As  we  are  women,  we  must  walk 
in  woman’s  field.  Now  we  cannot  wait  in  vain  for  it  to 
be  opened  by  the  hand  of  man,  but  woman  herself  must 


Then  and  Now 


37 


try  to  do  it,  knocking  loudly  on  it  because  of  the  wives 
who  are  treated  as  dolls,  for  mothers  who  must  take  care 
of  (the)  children  of  her  husband’s  wives  in  the  same  house 
with  her  own ;  for  the  girls  in  the  factory  who  are  destroying 
their  body  and  soul  under  the  dog-like  leader.” 

A  Home 

“The  home  of  which  I  am  going  to  tell  you  is  standing  in 
the  most  beautiful  part  of  our  city,  near  the  mountain.  It 
is  made  of  white  wood  which  is  very  beautifully  finished  and 
it  is  a  large  house.  Its  style  is  pure  Japanese. 

“In  that  house  an  interesting  family  is  living.  How  many 
people  are  there,  do  you  think?  There  are  twenty  people! 
Father,  mother,  nine  children — their  aunt,  three  maids  and  a 
sewing  woman  and  three  servants,  and  one  son  who  cannot 
come  back  now,  even  for  his  vacation,  because  he  is  studying 
in  America. 

“All  the  brothers  and  sisters  of  this  family  are  very  kind 
to  each  other — when  they  go  anywhere  they  always  like  to  go 
together,  but  one  girl  who  is  sixteen  years  old  has  been  sick 
in  her  room  for  nearly  a  year,  so  she  cannot  go  anywhere. 
Whenever  they  are  in  the  home  they  are  comforting  her  as 
much  as  possible,  therefore  she  cannot  be  lonely  at  all.  Al¬ 
though  she  has  been  sick  so  long  it  has  not  spoiled  her  beauty. 
Her  complexion  is  very  sweet  like  a  cherry-blossom  and  she 
is  never  thin.  Her  parents  can  give  her  every  comfort  and  she 
is  like  a  beautiful  princess  in  the  fairy  tales. 

“The  members  of  this  home  are  earnest  Christians,  so  it 
is  very  pure.  The  father  is  master  of  a  great  office  and  he  is 
a  kind  man  and  father.” 


OUTLINE  OF  CHAPTER  TWO 


The  Japanese  Family  System 

1.  Primary  Confucian  Virtues:  Loyalty,  Filial  Piety. 

2.  Marriage  a  Social  Obligation. 

3.  How  a  Japanese  Girl  is  Married:  Conservative  and 

Progressive  Practice. 

4.  Monogamy  and  Divorce. 

5.  The  Married  Woman's  Status. 

6.  Christian  Marriage:  The  Story  of  M.  San. 


CHAPTER  TWO 

The  Japanese  Family  System 

It  is  Christianity  that  has  brought  to  us  the  conception  of 
a  pure  home  founded  on  the  union  of  one  man  with  one  wom¬ 
an.  Confucianism,  Buddhism,  and  our  native  Shinto  and 
Bushido  did  not  ....  present  monogamy  as  an  ideal.  On  the 
contrary,  I  may  say,  each  of  these  religions  rather  encour- 
aged  the  preservation  of  family  by  concubinage.  The  new 
word  “Katei,”  a  translation  of  the  English  word  “home,”  is 
now  popularly  used  to  express  the  idea  of  a  happy  and  pure 
home  life.  This  home  life,  as  illustrated  by  many  missionary 
families,  is  recognized  as  an  ideal  at  which  to  aim.  It  is 
Christianity  that  has  given  many  such  homes  to  Japan,  and 
in  them  is  the  real  hope  for  a  healthy  and  sane  national  life. 

Tasuku  Harada,  D.  D. 

A  missionary  in  Japan  sometimes  has  an  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  address  a  school  or  a  club  where  a  direct  ser¬ 
mon  on  Christianity  would  not  be  allowed,  or  at  least 
would  not  be  welcomed.  My  father,  in  his  long  mis¬ 
sionary  life  in  Japan,  had  a  number  of  such  opportuni¬ 
ties.  He  had  a  favorite  lecture  on  “Ethics”  that  he 
used  to  illustrate  by  a  diagram  of  two  intersecting 
squares. 

1.  Primary  Confucian  Virtues:  Loyalty ,  Filial  Piety 

By  way  of  introduction  to  this  lecture  my  father 
would  say  in  effect:  “All  civilized  nations  have  devel¬ 
oped  to  a  certain  degree  those  virtues  or  moral  qualities 
that  are  essential  to  the  success  of  individual  or  com- 


39 


40  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

munity  life.  The  overlapping  section  of  the  squares  in 
my  diagram  represents  these  virtues,  held  in  common 
among  all  nations.  There  are,  however,  certain  virtues 
that  the  Orient  has  developed  to  a  higher  degree  than 
the  Occident ;  and  vice  versa.  The  protruding  sections 
of  my  squares  will  represent  these  two  groups,  the  pe¬ 
culiar  virtues  of  the  East  and  the  peculiar  virtues  of  the 
West.”  Then,  starting  from  the  Confucian  virtues 
with  their  emphasis  on  what  may  be  called  the  perpen¬ 
dicular  relationship  between  superiors  and  inferiors, 
he  would  pass  on  to  show  how  these  virtues  should  be 
supplemented  by  the  more  horizontal  virtues  of  dem¬ 
ocracy  and  individual  worth  as  developed  under  the 
influence  of  the  teachings  of  Christ.  It  is  to  these  per¬ 
pendicular  virtues  that  we  now  turn  our  attention,  in 
order  to  see  their  influence  on  the  social  structure  of 
Japan. 

The  main  perpendicular  virtues  are  two ;  loyalty  and 
filial  piety,  heart  allegiance  to  one’s  overlord  and  de¬ 
voted  service  to  one’s  progenitors.  In  a  country  like 
Japan,  where  the  emperor  is  ideally  conceived  of  as 
the  father  of  all  his  people,  and  where  the  imperial 
line  and  the  nation  as  well  take  their  descent  from  the 
gods  of  the  mythological  age,  the  two  virtues  are  in  es¬ 
sence  one.  To  the  non-critical  mind  of  the  past  wor¬ 
ship  of  the  gods,  worship  of  the  emperor,  and  wor¬ 
ship  of  ancestors  merged  in  one  attitude  of  spirit.  “The 
basis  of  Japanese  society  is  gratitude  for  favors  re¬ 
ceived,”  is  the  substance  of  what  one  modern  Japanese 
writer  has  said  on  this  subject. 


41 


The  Japanese  Family  System 

Subjection  of  Woman 

The  attitude  of  gratitude,  working  itself  out  in 
Japanese  society  of  the  Middle  Ages,  crystallized  itself 
for  men  in  the  chivalry  code  of  Bushido,  “The  Warrior 
Way,”  with  its  fundamental  allegiance  to  the  overlord. 
For  women  the  practical  expression  of  this  same  atti¬ 
tude  in  daily?'  life  was  summed  up  in  a  classic  of  some 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  called  Onna  Daigaku , 
or  “The  Greater  Learning  for  Women.”  It  points  out 
that  a  woman’s  substitute  for  an  overlord  is  her  hus¬ 
band  and  that  she  “must  serve  him  with  all  worship 
and  reverence.”  “A  woman  should  look  on  her  hus¬ 
band  as  if  he  were  Heaven  itself,  and  never  weary 
of  thinking  how  she  may  yield  to  her  husband  and  thus 
escape  celestial  castigation.”*  But  behind  both  alle¬ 
giances — that  of  the  man  to  his  overlord,  and  that  of 
the  woman  to  her  husband — lies  the  allegiance  to  an¬ 
cestors. 

Ancestor  Worship 

Gratitude  to  ancestors  involves  keeping  the  ancestral 
tablets  in  honor,  and  making  certain  offerings  and  vis¬ 
its  to  graves;  but,  most  of  all,  it  requires  keeping  up 
the  family  line  to  insure  a  worshiping  posterity,  and 
maintaining  family  honor  untarnished.  “It  is  not  right 
toward  our  ancestors,”  said  a  mother  recently,  weep¬ 
ing  over  a  threatened  family  scandal.  “You  have 
brought  disgrace  to  our  house,”  said  a  man  even  in 
these  modern  times  to  his  unfaithful  wife;  “The  only 

•Quotations  made  from  Onna  Daigaku  in  this  chapter  are  from 
Chamberlain’s  translation  in  “Woman  and  Wisdom  of  Japan.” 


42  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

way  you  can  wipe  out  this  dishonor  is  by  taking  your 
own  life.,> 

The  duties  toward  ancestors  necessitate  having  a 
head  of  the  family  upon  whom  the  responsibility  is  lo¬ 
cated.  In  olden  times  he  was  a  veritable  patriarch, 
with  power  of  life  and  death  over  the  members  of  his 
house  except  his  parents.  Now  his  authority  is  legally 
much  curtailed,  but  the  weight  of  tradition  permits 
such  a  head,  whether  man  or  woman,  large  powers  of 
control  in  relation  to  the  personal  destiny  of  the  de¬ 
pendent  members  of  the  family.  In  weighty  matters, 
such  as  sale  of  property,  or  marriage  agreements,  a 
council  of  the  chief  relatives  is  often  held;  decisions 
reached  by  such  a  council  have  a  practically  irresisti¬ 
ble  authority  in  family  affairs.  There  is  an  impressive 
scene  in  a  novel  in  which  a  prodigal  son  has  caused 
much  trouble  and  disgrace.  A  council  of  the  relatives 
is  pressing  the  father  to  disown  him.  One  after  an¬ 
other  has  put  his  seal  to  the  paper  casting  out  of  the 
family  the  offending  member.  The  broken-hearted 
father  hesitates  to  add  his  own  essential  seal.  The 
relatives  urge  him  to  more  fortitude  of  will,  but  he 
cannot  bring  himself  to  the  decisive  act.  The  impasse 
is  dramatically  broken  by  the  sudden  entrance  of  the 
son  himself,  who  has  returned  and  overheard  the  talk 
from  the  piazza  outside.  His  father’s  refusal  to  dis¬ 
own  him  has  broken  up  the  wells  of  pride  and  obstinacy 
within  him,  and  with  tears  and  contrition  he  resolves  to 
enter  on  a  new  life. 

The  family  tie  is  a  strong  one,  because  it  contains, 


43 


The  Japanese  Family  System 

in  addition  to  natural  human  love,  the  strong  inbred 
elements  of  responsibility  of  the  older  members  for  the 
younger,  and  respect  and  obedience  on  the  part  of  the 
younger  toward  the  older.  There  is  a  famous  story  of 
an  old  time  judge  who  used  this  family  bond  to  bring 
about  a  settlement  out  of  court  for  a  property  quarrel 
brought  to  him  by  two  brothers.  He  had  the  two 
brothers  shown  into  a  large,  cold  room  with  but  one 
brazier  in  the  center  and  left  them  waiting  there  for 
some  hours.  They  sat  at  first  on  opposite  sides  of  the 
room,  but  the  temperature  drew  them  in  time  to  the 
brazier  where,  warming  hands  together  over  the  coals, 
they  began  to  be  reminiscent  of  early  home  days  and 
childhood  experiences.  When  the  judge  finally  sum¬ 
moned  them,  they  had  made  up  their  quarrel  and  were 
ready  to  depart. 

2.  Marriage  a  Social  Obligation 

The  necessity  of  keeping  up  the  family  line  makes 
marriage  a  social  obligation,  and  renders  the  choice  of 
a  partner  more  a  matter  of  family  than  of  the  indi¬ 
vidual.  The  person  selected  should  be  of  similar 
family  ideals  and  standards.  The  parent  should  be 
the  one  to  decide  the  choice.  He  does  so  after  careful 
investigation  of  the  candidate.  The  go-between,  who 
at  least  nominally  conducts  the  investigation,  is  a  mar¬ 
ried  friend  of  suitable  experience,  and  many  different 
sources  of  information  are  consulted.  The  go-be¬ 
tween,  or  his  agent,  is  a  familiar  figure  in  a  school 
office,  a  friend’s  home,  a  place  of  business  connections, 


44  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

or  even  at  a  confidential  agency,  to  which  it  is  some¬ 
times  easier  to  delegate  the  matter.  Some  of  these 
confidential  agencies  are  strictly  matrimonial  bureaus, 
a  modern  development  in  view  of  changing  conditions 
that  have  lightened  family  responsibility  and  loosened 
individual  bonds.  The  first  such  bureau  was  started 
in  Tokyo  in  1900,  and  eighteen  years  later  there  were 
twenty-seven  such  institutions  in  that  city  alone.  They 
had  had  in  that  period  10,032  applications  (more  than 
half  men),  and  had  arranged  3660  marriages  (more 
than  half  of  these  being  of  women  applicants).  The 
largest  number  of  women  applicants  reported  them¬ 
selves  as  having  no  employment;  of  the  men  more 
were  merchants  or  in  business  companies  than  any¬ 
thing  else.  While  the  list  includes  various  of  the 
humbler  occupations,  it  contains  also  a  surprising  num¬ 
ber  of  educated  people,  as  officials,  teachers,  doctors, 
military  men. 

Matrimonial  Bureaus  Regulated 

The  police  investigation  that  collected  these  facts 
was  made  in  1919,  in  order  to  correct  abuses  of  which 
some  of  the  agencies  had  been  guilty,  and  resulted  in 
the  promulgation  of  certain  regulations  for  their  con¬ 
trol.  No  application  is  to  be  accepted  unless  accom¬ 
panied  by  a  copy  of  the  applicant’s  census  register, 
and,  in  case  he  or  she  is  under  age,  a  certificate  of 
the  parent’s  or  guardian’s  consent  to  the  application. 
(The  age  after  which  the  modern  Civil  Code  per¬ 
mits  marriage  independent  of  a  parent  or  guardian 
is  for  men  thirty,  for  women  twenty-five.)  The  appli- 


45 


I 

■ 

The  Japanese  Family  System 

cant  reports  his  own  vital  statistics,  with  statements 
about  his  family  including  grandparents,  about  his 
business,  income,  and  property,  grade  of  living,  and  the 
kind  of  mate  desired.  The  points  that  the  bureau  ex¬ 
pects  to  investigate  for  both  parties  before  making  a 
marriage  introduction  are:  the  progenitors  on  both 
sides  of  the  family  for  three  generations  back ;  uncles 
and  aunts,  brothers  and  sisters ;  details  of  the  life  his¬ 
tory  of  father  and  mother,  with  statement  as  to  char¬ 
acter,  tastes,  health ;  the  same  for  the  person  concerned, 
with  the  addition  of  details  about  education,  “mental 
ability,  accomplishments,  any  bad  habits,  past  and  pres¬ 
ent  conduct,  amount  of  sake  drunk,  any  secret  rela¬ 
tions  with  a  member  of  the  other  sex,  appearance,  bear¬ 
ing  and  physique,  property  and  the  property  of  the 
head  of  the  house,  home  conditions,  reputation  and  its 
correctness,  behavior  during  any  specified  period, 
whether  previously  married  or  not,  whether  ever  con¬ 
victed  of  a  crime.” 

Newspaper  advertisements  for  a  partner  in  marriage 
are  also  a  modern  development  in  Japan. 

The  large  majority  of  marriages,  however,  are  pri¬ 
vately  arranged.  The  detailed  statement  of  the  work 
of  a  marriage  bureau  has  been  given  here  merely  to 
illustrate  the  principles  on  which  the  arrangements  are 
made.  Where  the  bureau  or  the  go-between  is  honest, 
the  advantages  are  obvious,  and  many  happy  matches 
result.  Temptation  to  gild  the  report  is,  however, 
universally  recognized.  A  Christian  school  that  had 
given  correct  information  to  an  agency  about  a  medio- 


46  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

ere  girl  afterward  learned  from  another  inquirer  that 
she  was  being  represented  by  the  agency  as  of  unusual 
attainments.  The  school,  therefore,  blacklisted  that 
agency  as  not  to  be  trusted  with  information  in  future. 

Marriage  the  Business  of  Parents 

As  stated  above,  upon  the  parent  devolves  the  re¬ 
sponsibility  of  the  decision.  The  young  people  them¬ 
selves  are  often  consulted  and  have  an  opportunity  to 
express  an  opinion, — increasingly  so  in  these  days. 
However,  family  pressure  is  often  very  severe.  An  ex¬ 
treme  case  is  of  a  mission  school  graduate  who  a  few 
summers  ago  was  being  beaten  almost  daily  by  her 
father  in  his  attempt  to  bring  her  to  consent  to  marry 
the  non-Christian  man  whom  he  had  chosen  for  her. 
She  endured,  however,  and  had  the  joy  later  of  secur¬ 
ing  a  Christian  husband.  Another  Christian  girl,  re¬ 
sisting  the  marriage  her  family  desired  for  her  with  a 
non-Christian  man,  a  sake  brewer,  was  dealt  with  by  a 
council  of  the  relatives,  who  in  a  long  argument  pressed 
on  her  the  family  break  that  her  refusal  would  bring 
about,  and  finally  in  the  late  hours  of  the  night  won 
her  consent.  She  had  come  to  feel  that  her  duty  was 
to  sacrifice  her  own  ideals  and  hopes  for  the  harmony 
of  the  family. 

That  the  young  people  of  Japan  today  should  have 
so  little  voice  in  the  matter  of  marriage  is  not  strange, 
not  only  because  they  are  under  authority,  but  because 
they  have  had  no  mixed  social  life  and  do  not  know 
young  people  of  the  other  sex,  except  relatives.  They, 


47 


The  Japanese  Family  System 

therefore,  have  no  basis  of  experience  for  sound  judg¬ 
ment.  The  separation  of  the  sexes,  very  strenuously 
urged  in  Onna  Daigaku,  is  still  marked  in  many  ways. 
Seats  in  churches  are  still  largely  separate  for  the 
women.  Some  mothers  in  conservative  places  hesi¬ 
tate  to  let  their  daughters  go  to  church  because  they 
may  get  acquainted  with  bad  young  men  there.  At 
church  sociables  it  is  almost  impossible  to  persuade  the 
men  and  the  women  to  sit  together.  Mixed  choirs  in 
some  of  the  larger  centers  may  be  said  only  recently  to 
have  passed  the  experimental  stage. 

Coeducation  above  the  elementary  grades  is  un¬ 
known  in  Japan  but  for  a  few  exceptions  in  university 
grade  work  or  in  specializing  schools.  In  one  of  the 
modern  instruction  books  on  morals  for  the  second 
year  class  in  a  girls’  high  school,  a  model  of  virtue 
is  quoted  in  the  case  of  a  poetess  of  ancient  times 
who,  when  obliged  to  attend  poetry  meetings  where 
men  were  present,  always  sat  on  the  other  side  of  the 
sliding  doors  so  as  to  be  modestly  hidden  from  view. 
Yet  many  of  the  girls  who  read  that  chapter  are  jost¬ 
ling  elbows  with  men  in  the  crowded  street  cars  on 
which  they  commute  to  school,  have  men  teachers  as 
well  as  women,  meet  their  brothers’  friends  when  they 
come  to  visit,  and  are  thrown  with  men  in  a  hundred 
and  one  common  business  ways  of  the  modern  world. 

Free  Marriages 

The  ideal  of  the  moralist  or  conservative  who  tries  to 
have  these  contacts  all  kept  impersonal  or  merely  me¬ 
chanical  is  an  impossible  one.  Acquaintances  result  and 


48  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

ripen  into  friendships,  and  friendships  into  love,  as  the 
world  over.  Resultant  marriages  are  called  “free  mar¬ 
riages, ’’  because  the  individual,  rather  than  the  family, 
controls  the  choice.  That  does  not  mean,  however,  that 
the  families  of  the  two  are  ignored.  Probably  they 
become  the  formal  agents  of  negotiations  before  the 
match  is  legally  consummated.  Even  “free  marriages” 
generally  have  some  married  friends  to  act  as  nominal 
“go-betweens,”  to  promote  the  union.  A  lawyer  re  ¬ 
cently  told  me  that  his  estimate  was  that  two  out  of  ten 
matches  in  Osaka  nowadays  are  “free  marriages.” 
Probably  the  proportion  is  greater  in  less  conservative 
cities  like  Tokyo  and  Kobe. 

Frequently,  however,  there  are  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  the  union  which  the  young  people  desire.  Per¬ 
haps  it  is  some  hereditary  taint  in  one  family — leprosy, 
tuberculosis,  insanity  are  particularly  feared.  Per¬ 
haps  it  is  some  unsuitability  of  health,  education,  or  so¬ 
cial  standing.  Perhaps  it  is  because  each  one  is  the 
head,  or  is  to  succeed  to  the  headship,  of  a  family,  so 
that  neither  can  leave  his  own  house  to  become  a  mem¬ 
ber  of  another.  An  only  child,  whether  son  or  daugh¬ 
ter,  has  a  responsibility  for  carrying  on  the  family 
name,  (if  it  is  a  daughter,  her  husband  drops  his 
family  name  for  hers)  and  there  are  a  few  cases  of  a 
love  being  sacrificed  for  that  inherited  responsibility. 
It  is  possible,  however,  to  meet  the  situation  by  the 
adoption  by  one  family  of  a  new  heir.  The  child  of  a 
relative  is  often  adopted  for  an  heir,  especially  in  child¬ 
less  families  where  adoption  is  imperative.  Sometimes 


AN  OUTDOOR  SUMMER  SUNDAY  SCHOOL 


49 


The  Japanese  Family  System 

the  marriage  is  permitted  on  the  condition  that  the  first¬ 
born  child  shall  take  the  heirship  in  the  family  that  was 
deprived  of  an  heir  by  the  marriage.  Not  infrequently 
a  childless  couple  adopt  both  a  boy  and  a  girl,  with 
the  expectation  that  at  a  suitable  age  they  will  marry 
each  other. 

3.  How  a  Japanese  Girl  is  Married:  Conservative  and 

Progressive  Practice 

The  following  essay  by  a  young  woman  in  a  Chris¬ 
tian  college  represents  the  old  conservative  type  of 
Japanese  marriage  today.  Fortunately,  however, 
parents  nowadays,  especially  Christian  parents,  are 
more  and  more  giving  their  daughters  the  privilege  of 
acquaintance  with  a  fiance  before  marriage.  The  emi¬ 
nent  educator,  Miss  Tsuda,  has  in  fact  for  years 
taught  her  students  that,  although  acquaintance  be¬ 
fore  engagement  is  not  yet  generally  feasible,  it  is 
their  right  to  claim  opportunities  for  meeting  after 
engagement,  and  even  to  break  the  engagement,  if 
acquaintance  does  not  give  promise  of  future  happi¬ 
ness.  The  sketch,  with  a  few  corrections  in  the  Eng¬ 
lish,  follows: 

“Free  marriage  is  deemed  not  to  be  a  decent  thing 
for  the  people  in  Japan  where  the  principle  of  family 
system  prevails.  And  there  are  very  few  chances  for 
the  young  people  to  associate  with  each  other.  These 
two  facts  hold  the  parents  of  a  grown-up  young  man 
responsible  for  finding  him  a  wife,  instead  of  the  son 
himself.  Wealth,  lineage,  social  influence  are  the  first 


50  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

consideration.  Character,  education,  physical  make¬ 
up  come  next  to  be  considered.  Whether  or  not  there 
exists  a  love  between  the  two  young  people  is  a  ques¬ 
tion  of  little  importance. 

“After  choosing  a  candidate,  the  next  step  to  be 
taken  is  to  ascertain,  through  a  go-between,  if  the  par¬ 
ents  of  the  young  girl  in  question  are  willing  to  let  their 
daughter  marry  the  young  man.  In  case  the  answer  is 
given  in  the  affirmative  after  a  thorough  investigation 
by  the  parents,  a  special  kind  of  interview  is  to  take 
place  between  the  future  bride  and  bridegroom,  some¬ 
times  in  the  presence  of  the  parents,  the  go-between 
always  performing  the  duty  of  introducing  the  pair. 
This  interview  is  called  miai  in  Japanese,  which  means 
‘looking  at  each  other/  This  is  an  indispensable  part 
of  the  marriage  process,  and  it  affords,  in  most  cases, 
the  first  opportunity  for  the  young  people  of  seeing 
each  other.  Usually  the  park,  the  theatre,  and  other 
public  places  are  used  for  this  purpose. 

“If  the  young  man  chooses  the  woman  for  his  life- 
mate  the  miai  usually  ends  in  matrimony.  The  young 
woman  in  Japan  is  remarkably  obedient  to  her  parents 
and  their  consent  to  miai  signifies  their  consent  to  the 
marriage.  Generally  the  woman  of  early  age,  espe¬ 
cially  brought  up  in  such  a  way  as  described,  in  ten 
cases  out  of  ten  could  not  even  have  a  glance  at  her 
suitor  during  the  miai,  being  very  shy  and  in  an  un¬ 
settled  feeling  all  that  time.  The  young  man  with  his 
intellectual  insight  through  a  single  miai  and  the  young 
girl  with  not  even  a  single  glance  at  him, — that  closes 
the  miai. 


51 


The  Japanese  Family  System 

“Both  parties  thus  agreeing,  the  bridegroom  will 
make  a  present  called  yuino *  through  the  hand  of  the 
go-between  in  token  of  contracting  the  bargain.  The 
yuino  consists  of  the  future  wife’s  clothes,  in  most 
cases ;  but  sometimes  money.  Sometimes  a  catalogue 
of  the  list  of  things  to  be  given  to  the  bride  is  presented 
as  a  yuino  without  the  actual  presents  at  that  moment. 
Then,  if  the  negotiation  goes  smoothly,  the  matrimo¬ 
nial  ceremony  is  soon  to  follow. 

“Under  certain  circumstances  it  will  be  postponed 
for  over  a  year.  But  between  the  time  of  yuino  and 
their  marriage  ceremony  the  two  people,  future  wife 
and  husband,  still  remain  as  strangers  to  each  other’s 
character.  It  is  considered  very  important  to  fulfil  the 
contract  of  yuino  and  therefore  no  matter  what  new 
discovery  is  made  which  proves  the  danger  of  the 
girl’s  marriage  it  will  be  ignored ;  the  girl,  being  merely 
a  doll,  is  sent  away  to  her  new  home,  usually  carrying 
with  her  a  dagger,  which  is  presented  to  her  by  her  par¬ 
ents  with  the  following  words:  ‘You  have  no  home  ex¬ 
cept  your  husband’s  now.  This  is  your  friend.’  Thus 
she  attends  her  matrimonial  ceremony  and  gets  mar¬ 
ried  in  the  presence  of  the  Japanese  marriage  god.” 

Christian  Ideals  of  Marriage 

The  modern  progressive  type  of  marriage  arrange¬ 
ment  may  be  illustrated  by  the  following  extract,  dated 
1922.  A  Christian  father  of  moderate  means,  who  had 
sent  his  daughter  through  a  mission  school,  published 

‘Generally  the  yuino  is  sent  from  each  side  to  the  other,  not  only 
from  the  groom. 


52  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

an  article  telling  how  her  engagement  and  marriage 
had  taken  place.  It  shows  how  the  Christian  teaching 
of  individual  worth  and  individual  responsibility  has 
been  applied  in  real  life.  He  tells  the  story  thus: 

“It  was  on  a  certain  day  of  February  last  year  that 
this  question  of  marriage  of  my  daughter  was  brought 
up — at  the  reception  held  after  the  wedding  my  daugh¬ 
ter  remembered  the  date  so  distinctly  that  she  was 
teased  by  a  person  who  sat  next  to  her  and  she  blushed. 
Both  my  daughter  and  I  were  away  at  business  and 
her  mother  was  in  bed  with  a  slight  cold.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  K.,  our  relatives,  called  and  brought  up  the  ques¬ 
tion.  They  told  my  wife  that  the  man  they  had  in 
mind  was  from  our  prefecture,  and  although  still  a 
student  was  a  promising  young  man  with  no  depen¬ 
dents  who  might  trouble  him.  After  the  matter  had 
been  discussed  among  the  three  of  us,  parents  and 
daughter,  we  came  to  the  decision  that  my  daughter 
might  associate  with  the  man  for  a  proper  length  of 
time  and  if  they  should  come  to  a  good  understanding 
and  want  to  marry  they  would  be  at  liberty  to  do  so. 
The  most  essential  matter  in  marriage  is  the  will  of  the 
two  young  people  concerned.  This  is  a  matter  of 
course,  and  yet  in  this  world  where  so  many  unnatural 
things  happen,  from  the  first  I  decided  that  should  be 
my  attitude  as  a  father. 

“After  the  miai,  (the  formal  interview  before  mar¬ 
riage),  correspondence  followed  between  the  two  and 
later  they  called  on  each  other  and  came  to  trust  each 
other  and  became  engaged.  It  was  toward  the  end 


. 


A  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  IN  JAPAN 


53 


The  Japanese  Family  System 

of  summer  last  year.  Her  father  and  mother,  and  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  K.  who  acted  as  their  go-betweens,  were  only 
their  advisers  and  leaders  during  this  time.  There 
was  no  family  property  on  either  side  to  be  the  cause 
of  trouble,  neither  were  there  any  relatives  that  might 
interfere  with  them. 

‘‘With  their  love  and  good  sense,  and  the  sympathy 
and  guidance  of  the  people  around,  everything  went 
well,  and  at  last  the  wedding  was  held  to-day.  With¬ 
out  any  old  customs  to  trouble  them,  very  simply  and 
solemnly  the  union  of  a  pure  man  and  a  pure  woman 
was  consummated  by  their  respected  old  pastor.” 

4.  Monogamy  and  Divorce 

The  treatment  of  marriage  as  a  contract  of  con¬ 
venience  is  changing,  in  company  with  the  growing 
realization  of  the  dignity  and  rights  of  womanhood. 
The  marriage  of  the  Crown  Prince  (now  Emperor) 
in  1900  was  accompanied  by  religious  rites  in  the  pal¬ 
ace  shrine ;  this  was  an  innovation  that  gave  the  event 
a  sacred  significance  indicative  of  the  new  attitude 
toward  marriage.  The  influence  of  the  Christian  wed¬ 
ding  ceremony,  with  its  solemn  vows  of  responsibility, 
has  been  so  great  that  in  recent  years  many  marriages 
have  been  performed  with  similar  rites  conducted  by 
a  Shinto  priest.  One  of  the  most  popular  places  for 
weddings  is  the  Hibiya  Shrine  in  Tokyo,  which,  it  is 
said,  must  be  spoken  for  long  beforehand,  in  order  to 
secure  a  date.  Bigamy  has  for  many  years  been  illegal. 
The  maintenance  of  a  secondary  establishment  by  a 


54  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

man  who  can  afford  it  is  frequently  condoned  by  so¬ 
ciety,  especially  if  the  wife  is  an  invalid.  But  the 
Christian  conception  of  a  monogamous  marriage  is 
gaining  steadily  in  influence.  A  prefectural  governor 
was  recently  invited  to  the  wedding  of  one  of  his  sub¬ 
ordinate  officials.  The  ceremony  was  in  a  church,  and 
was  followed,  as  the  Japanese  custom  is,  by  brief  con¬ 
gratulatory  addresses  or  messages  from  representa¬ 
tives  of  groups  of  friends.  The  governor,  represent¬ 
ing  the  groom’s  official  circle  of  friends,  spoke  a  few 
very  genuine  words  of  felicitation,  in  the  course  of 
which  he  said,  “I  have  never  seen  a  Christian  wedding 
ceremony  before  this.  It  is  so  solemn  and  sacred  that 
it  seems  almost  a  desecration  to  make  a  commonplace 
speech  here.  I  am  especially  impressed  with  the  vows 
of  faithfulness  between  one  husband  and  one  wife.” 
The  deacons  of  the  church  felt  as  if  that  one  wedding 
had  been  a  whole  evangelistic  campaign. 

The  famous  Confucian  “seven  reasons  for  divorce” 
held  also  in  Japan  up  to  the  modern  era  and  were  in¬ 
cluded  in  the  Onna  Daigaku.  As  that  book  became  a 
common  item  in  a  bride’s  trousseau,  the  women  of 
Japan  were  trained  to  go  to  great  lengths  of  submis¬ 
sion  and  forbearance  rather  than  invite  a  marriage 
rupture.  As  the  children  of  a  marriage  belong  to  the 
father,  a  divorce  would  generally  mean  to  the  wife  the 
loss  of  her  children.  Therein  lies  a  powerful  motive 
to  endure  and  to  make  herself  endurable.  It  is  quite 
often  the  case,  however,  in  unhappy  marriages,  that 
the  trouble  is  not  between  the  husband  and  the  wife, 
but  between  the  husband’s  relatives  and  the  wife. 


The  Japanese  Family  System  55 

The  Patriarchal  Family 

In  old-style  families  where  the  bride  goes  to  live  with 
the  husband’s  parents,  with  perhaps  grandparents,  too, 
and  brothers  with  their  families  under  one  generous 
patriarchal  roof,  there  are  many  difficulties  of  self¬ 
adaptation.  The  Onna  Daigaku  speaks  in  no  uncer¬ 
tain  tones  on  her  new  obligations :  “After  marriage  her 
duty  is  to  honor  her  father-in-law  and  mother-in-law, 
to  honor  them  beyond  her  father  and  mother,  to  love 
and  reverence  them  with  all  ardor,  and  to  tend  them 
with  practice  of  every  filial  piety  ...  As  brothers-in- 
law  and  sisters-in-law  are  the  brothers  and  sisters  of  a 
woman’s  husband,  they  deserve  all  her  reverence,”  etc. 
A  divorce  “by  mutual  consent,”  probably  the  common¬ 
est  kind  in  Japan  today,  is  generally  spoken  of  in  some 
such  terms  as,  “She  has  gone  back  to  her  own  home.” 
The  social  estimate  of  divorce  in  the  Onna  Daigaku  is : 
“A  woman  once  married,  and  then  divorced,  has  wan¬ 
dered  from  the  ‘way’  and  is  covered  with  great  shame, 
even  if  she  should  enter  into  a  second  union  with  a 
man  of  wealth  and  position.”  When  the  young  daugh¬ 
ter  of  a  house  has  “returned”  in  this  way  after  a  brief 
married  experience,  the  matter  is  kept  as  quiet  as  possi¬ 
ble  to  facilitate  the  arranging  of  another  match. 

The  latest  available  statistics  give  the  number  of 
marriages  in  Japan  in  1918  as  503,286,  and  the  number 
of  divorces  that  same  year  as  56,741,  or  11.3  per  cent 
of  the  marriages.  The  decrease  in  the  percentage  of 
divorces  in  the  last  twenty-five  years  is  striking.  The 
average  percentage  of  divorce  to  marriage  in  five 


56  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

years  from  1894  to  1898  was  27.3  per  cent ;  the  figures 
for  the  successive  quinquenniums  down  to  1918  stand 
at  18.1  per  cent,  15.6  per  cent,  13.6  per  cent,  and  12.8 
per  cent  respectively.  This  reduction  of  percentages 
by  more  than  one-half  is  partly  the  result  of  the  spread 
of  Christian  ideals. 

These  figures  do  not,  however,  include  the  so-called 
“hidden  divorces,”  i.e.,  the  separations  after  unregis¬ 
tered  marriages.  The  legality  of  a  marriage  in  Japan 
depends  on  its  being  registered.  If  the  registration  is 
delayed  for  any  considerable  time  after  the  social  or 
religious  ceremony,  the  couple  have  a  chance  to  see 
whether  they  really  wish  the  arrangement  to  stand. 
If  they  do  not,  it  can  be  dissolved  without  ceremony, 
as  the  marriage  was  never  legally  consummated.  Such 
cases  are  more  often  due  to  neglect  than  to  the  inten¬ 
tion  of  making  a  trial  marriage.  It  is  of  interest,  how¬ 
ever,  that  a  woman’s  right  to  claim  damages  in  such  a 
case  was  established  in  1915  by  a  court  decision  against 
the  husband.  It  is  one  of  the  responsibilities  of  a 
Christian  pastor  performing  a  marriage  ceremony  to 
ascertain  that  the  registration  takes  place  promptly. 
In  case  of  a  child  resulting  from  a  trial  match  or  any 
other  irregular  union,  if  it  is  not  desired  by  the  father 
and  legalized  by  him,  the  family  system  provides  a 
beneficent  arrangement  by  which  it  is  adopted  by  the 
parents  of  the  mother.  It  is  thus  given  a  definite  stand¬ 
ing  and  saved  from  the  social  handicap  that  might 
otherwise  blight  its  life. 

One  change  that  modern  life  and  thought  are  bring- 


57 


The  Japanese  Family  System 

ing  about  is  that  a  young  couple  now  frequently  set 
up  housekeeping  for  themselves  instead  of  remaining 
under  the  parental  roof.  It  is  not  only  the  young  peo¬ 
ple  that  desire  this;  the  old  people,  too,  often  wish  it. 
Even  where  temperaments  are  congenial  and  purposes 
kindly,  it  is  a  relief  not  to  have  the  conflicting  ideals 
and  customs  of  the  past  and  the  present  in  too  insis¬ 
tent  a  contact. 

5.  The  Married  Woman’s  Status 

The  legal  status  of  women  under  the  modern  civil 
code  of  Japan  still  shows  in  striking  manner  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  the  family  system.  While  a  girl  attains  her 
majority,  like  her  brother,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  and  is, 
while  single,  as  free  as  he  in  the  performance  of  juris¬ 
tic  acts,  marriage  at  once  changes  her  status  to  one  of 
incompetency.  She  may  not  lend  or  borrow  money, 
transfer  her  own  real  estate,  or  do  any  important  legal 
act  without  her  husband's  authorization.  She  is  only 
partly  out  of  the  subjections  to  which  the  traditions  of 
the  past  have  assigned  her.  Her  own  daughter,  in  a 
question  of  succession  to  the  house,  may  be  set  aside 
in  favor  of  the  son  of  her  husband’s  concubine.* 

A  lecturer  from  the  Law  Department  of  the  Kyoto 
Imperial  University,  speaking  in  1919  before  a  large 
audience  of  women  on  women’s  place  in  the  family 
system,  told  his  hearers,  after  enumerating  their  dis- 

*It  is  to  be  noted  that  a  committee  is  already  at  work  on  the  re¬ 
vision  of  Books  IV  and  V  of  the  Civil  Code  of  Japan,  namely,  those 
sections  dealing  with  the  family  relations  and  succession.  Japan  has 
traveled  far  since  this  part  of  the  Civil  Code  was  enacted  in  1898,  and 
the  revision  will  evidence  that  progress. 


58  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

abilities  under  this  system,  that  in  his  opinion  the  day 
of  that  system  was  past.  He  pointed  out  that  the  social 
and  political  reasons  for  the  family  system  have  ceased 
to  have  weight ;  that  education  being  now  in  the  hands 
of  the  state  and  not  the  family,  and  contact  between 
the  government  and  the  individual  being  now  direct,  a 
representative  of  a  family  organization  is  no  longer  a 
necessary  medium  of  communication  between  the  two ; 
that  the  only  reason  left  now  for  the  family  system  in 
Japan  is  the  religious  one — ancestor  worship.  He  said, 
“It  is  ludicrous  for  Japan  to  have  at  the  present  time  a 
system  discarded  two  thousand  years  ago  in  Europe. 
Ancestor  worship  should  be  otherwise  provided  for — 
possibly  by  some  central  shrine  in  which  all  families 
of  a  village  or  a  group  unite  for  common  observances 
and  thus  relieve  the  individual  household;  and  the 
family  system  should  be  abolished.” 

Yet  lovers  of  Japan,  who  see  what  the  family  sys¬ 
tem  has  done,  under  the  guiding  providence  of  God,  to 
build  fundamental  virtues  in  society  and  individual, 
can  hope  that  it  will  be  abolished  only  as  it  is  super¬ 
seded  by  the  higher  ideals  of  the  Christian  home:  a 
freedom  balanced  by  responsibility,  a  single  standard 
of  purity,  its  law  that  of  mutual  service  within  and  that 
of  leavening  without,  its  allegiance  to  the  one  Father 
of  whom  the  whole  family  in  heaven  and  on  earth  is 
named.  The  woman  of  Japan  has  developed,  under 
the  old  system,  a  character  of  wonderful  beauty  in 
modest  self-effacement  and  self-abnegation. 


59 


The  Japanese  Family  System 
6.  Christian  Marriage:  The  Story  of  M.  San 

How  the  love  of  Christ,  implanted  upon  such  char¬ 
acter,  works  out,  is  illustrated  in  the  following  story 
that  I  am  permitted  to  quote  from  a  personal  letter 
written  recently  by  the  missionary  in  the  case.  It  shows 
(as  she  calls  it)  the  characteristic  power  of  a  Japanese 
woman  “to  win  by  passive  resistance.”  Though  dated 
a  generation  ago,  it  might  have  happened  to-day;  and 
we  have  the  advantage  of  knowing  how  it  all  turned 
out.  This,  then,  is  the  story  of  a  girl  whom  we  will 
call  “M.  San.”* 

“About  thirty-three  years  ago,  one  morning  as  I 
came  from  church  I  found  an  elegantly  dressed  Japa¬ 
nese  lady  at  my  gate.  At  once  she  greeted  me  with  the 
assurance  of  a  friend,  saying  she  had  been  baptized  in 
Tokyo,  but  had  recently  come  here ;  and  not  knowing 
whether  there  were  any  Christians  here  or  not,  she  was 
trying  to  find  out,  and  had  come  to  our  gate  and  found 
that  a  missionary  was  living  there.  She  was  so  cordial 
and  enthusiastic,  I  feared  she  might  be  a  little  off,  as 
Japanese  women  I  had  met  so  far  were  very  reserved. 
A  young  Japanese  man,  a  Christian,  my  teacher,  was 
there.  I  asked  him  to  talk  with  her.  She  proved  to 
be  the  wife  of  an  officer.  Her  husband  had  been  op¬ 
posed  to  her  becoming  a  Christian,  and  so  she  was  hav¬ 
ing  a  hard  time  to  keep  her  faith.  In  a  short  time  she 
brought  the  daughter  of  another  officer  to  the  school. 
After  a  few  months  the  girl  was  baptized,  but  all 

*San  is  the  polite  Japanese  suffix  to  be  used  with  the  name  of  a 
person. 


GO  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

seemed  to  go  well  with  her  until  the  parents  thought 
it  time  for  the  girl  to  be  married.  They  had  betrothed 
her  to  an  army  man  years  before,  without  her  knowl¬ 
edge  or  consent.  When  she  was  told  to  stop  school 
and  get  ready  to  marry  she  refused  to  marry  the  man, 
saying  she  was  a  Christian  and  could  not  marry  a  man 
who  drank  sake.  This  was  unheard-of  rebellion,  the 
daughter  of  a  samurai  refusing  to  do  as  she  was  bidden 
by  her  family.  Did  not  the  family  know  better  than 
she  what  was  for  her  good,  which  was  what  was  good 
for  the  family?  Then  the  father  said  that  that  was 
what  he  had  gained  by  allowing  his  daughter  to  asso¬ 
ciate  with  foreigners  and  Christians. 

“A  disobedient  daughter  was  a  disgrace  to  any  sam¬ 
urai  household.  At  once  she  was  stopped  from  school. 
Then  she  was  confined  in  the  home  and  made  to  do  the 
roughest  work  of  the  house.  She  was  not  allowed  any 
communication  with  her  friends.  We  were  told  it  was 
useless  to  call  or  to  try  in  any  way  to  pacify  the  family. 
The  wife  of  the  officer  who  had  led  her  to  the  school 
also  went  to  the  house  in  vain.  This  lady  one  day 
sent  a  messenger  asking  me  to  come  to  her  without  de¬ 
lay.  One  of  the  Japanese  teachers  and  myself  at  once 
went  to  her.  She  said  her  husband  had  kicked  her  that 
morning  and  ordered  her  to  have  all  her  things  ready 
to  leave  his  house  forever  by  the  time  he  returned  from 
his  duties  at  four  o’clock  that  afternoon.  She  was  in 
great  distress  and  asked  if  we  did  not  think  she  might 
become  a  Bible  woman.  She  said  that  perhaps  for  her 
lack  of  faith  this  had  come  to  her. 


HOUR  FOR  GAMES  IN  THE  DAILY  VACATION  BIBLE  SCHOOL 


The  Japanese  Family  System  61 

“We  asked  all  particulars.  While  she  had  done  noth¬ 
ing  that  was  wrong  from  a  Christian  standpoint,  or  in 
our  eyes,  she  had  done  some  things  that  it  was  not  con¬ 
sidered  the  right  thing  for  a  Japanese  wife  to  do.  I 
told  her  I  did  not  think  God  would  call  her  to  be  a  Bible 
woman,  while  she  would  have  to  leave  her  children  to 
be  brought  up  by  those  who  are  opposed  to  Christianity. 
We  advised  her  to  go  to  her  husband  on  his  return  and 
tell  him  she  had  done  wrong  in  some  things,  ask  his  par¬ 
don,  but  tell  him  she  could  not  leave  her  children.  She 
did  so.  The  husband  was  sullen  for  some  weeks,  but 
after  a  time  he  consented  to  come  with  his  wife  to  a 
meal  here  in  our  home.  He  was  very  fond  of  foreign 
food.  I  did  my  best  to  make  a  meal  that  I  knew  he 
would  like.  He  was  not  very  gracious  all  the  evening, 
but  he  ate  heartily.  He  forbade  his  wife  going  to 
church.  I  advised  her  to  be  the  humble  Japanese  wife 
until  his  resentment  would  pass.  He  was  inflicting 
punishment  on  his  wife  because  she  had  caused  the 
trouble  in  a  fellow  officer’s  house  by  leading  the  daugh¬ 
ter  into  strange  ways  and  doctrines. 

“One  day  while  I  was  in  church  the  wife  of  the  stub¬ 
born  officer  came  and  asked  if  I  would  tell  her  how  to 
make  the  pudding  we  had  for  supper  the  last  time  they 
had  a  meal  with  us.  I  never  took  more  satisfaction  in 
giving  a  recipe,*  even  if  I  did  leave  church  to  do  so,  for 
I  felt  the  winter  anger  was  beginning  to  thaw  and  the 
better  side  of  the  man  coming  to  the  front.  I  knew  that, 
at  heart,  he  was  an  honest  man  and  kind,  but  with  a 


*Inside  information  reveals  the  fact  that  this  was  a  sweet  potato 
pudding. 


62  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

rough  exterior.  Weeks  passed,  and  I  heard  nothing  of 
our  imprisoned  girl.  The  afternoon  Sunday  school  in 
which  she  had  been  helping  seemed  lonely  without  her. 
She  was  missed  in  the  school,  but  no  word  of  sympathy 
could  we  send.  After  some  months,  one  Sunday  after¬ 
noon  as  I  entered  the  little  Sunday  school  room,  what 
was  my  surprise  to  see  M.  San  sitting  among  the  chil¬ 
dren  as  if  she  had  never  been  absent,  as  calm  as  of  old, 
smiling  and  happy.  Not  being  Japanese  I  could  but 
show  my  surprise.  She  said  that  tomorrow  the  lady 
who  had  led  her  to  be  a  Christian  would  call  and  tell 
me  all.  She  added,  T  am  very  happy.  God’s  promises 
hold  good.  I  was  comforted  by  the  passages  of  Scrip¬ 
ture  I  had  memorized.”, 

“The  next  day  the  lady  called.  Her  story  was  thus. 
T  did  as  you  recommended,  until  my  husband  seemed 
to  forget  all  the  disagreeable  days  of  the  past.  I  man¬ 
aged  to  get  him  to  meet  this  young  man  of  the  church, 
who  is  now  a  student  in  Kansei  Gakuin.*  This  young 
man  has  no  family  responsibilities.  He  can  be  adopted 
into  the  M.  household  and  marry  the  daughter  and 
become  the  head  of  the  house.  My  husband  saw 
what  a  fine  young  man  he  was,  and  went  to  the  M. 
family  and  told  them  that  he  had  been  a  fool  to  treat 
his  wife  as  he  had  done,  for  he  knew  she  was  a  better 
woman  for  being  a  Christian.  Now  as  the  daugh¬ 
ter  was  determined  not  to  give  up  her  faith,  would 
it  not  be  better  to  take  this  young  man  as  her  hus¬ 
band,  and  forgive  the  girl?  The  old  man  was  in  a 


*The  large  Methodist  College  in  Kobe. 


63 


The  Japanese  Family  System 

mood  to  do  something  if  he  could  only  save  his  face. 
The  Oriental  could  not  bear  to  lose  face.  He  had  wit¬ 
nessed  the  gentleness  as  well  as  the  firmness  of  the 
daughter.  Every  one  fell  in  love  with  the  young  man. 
In  a  few  days  we  were  invited  to  the  M.  house  to  a 
feast  and  to  add  our  blessing  to  the  young  couple.  The 
guests  were  the  church  members.  As  you  know,  this 
couple  lived  happily  ever  afterwards,  and  they  have 
seen  their  children  grow  up  in  the  nurture  of  the  Lord, 
and  they  have  now  grandchildren  going  the  same 
way.” 

SELECTIONS 

The  students  in  the  Japanese  Christian  colleges  have  various 
backgrounds  of  family  life  and  of  wider  experience,  which 
color  all  their  college  work. 

Home  pictures  are  good  material  for  rhetoric  classes. 

My  Little  Sister 

“I  have  a  little  sister  of  nine  years  old — I  will  describe  her. 
She  has  a  rather  round  face,  a  little  chin,  and  lovely  eyes 
and  mouth.  Her  hair,  I  am  sorry,  is  not  quite  black,  but  it 
is  plenty.  Every  time  I  go  home  from  the  Dormitory  I  used 
to  cut  her  hair  short  all  the  same  length  and  tie  a  ribbon  on 
the  top  of  it.  (A  dark  blue  one  becomes  her  best,  I  know). 

“But  about  her  hair  I  want  to  tell  you  something.  The 
last  time  I  went  home  I  was  surprised  to  see  her  hair  cut  so 
short  that  almost  all  her  whole  ears  appear  from  under  it !  ‘I 
cut  it  myself  this  time/  she  said,  ‘only  getting  the  help  of  the 
maid.  It  is  far  better  like  this.’ 

“She  has  an  elder  brother  and  she  plays  among  his  friends 
with  him.  She  never  cries,  even  when  other  boys  might  cry 
sometimes.  Our  parents  feel  sorry  to  notice  her  using  a 


64  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

boy’s  way  of  talking.  But  my  sister’s  husband  loves  her  best, 
and  her  mischief  also. 

“Often  he  will  say  to  her,  ‘Oh,  yes,  you  are  a  very  nice, 
charming,  lovely,’  and  then  he  adds  in  a  small  voice,  ‘I 
mean,  that  is  you  might  be  if  you  were  a  boy.’  Then  she 
jumps  up  at  him  and  scratches  at  his  face  as  well  as  his  arms 
and  hands.  Fighting  against  her  monkeyish  pranks,  he  con¬ 
tinues  like  this:  ‘Oh,  yes,  yes,  just  in  such  a  manner  as  this 
boys  often  do.  Have  you  ever  seen  a  lady?’  etc.,  etc. 

“Our  mother  gave  her  old,  black  parasol  to  her  to  use  as 
her  small  umbrella  for  rainy  days.  She  seems  so  glad  to  have 
it  that  she  carries  it  every  day  to  school,  caring  not  whether 
it  is  dry  or  rainy. 

“Her  poor  mark  in  school  is  Arithmetic.  Her  best  one  is 
in  Composition.  I  read  some  of  them.  She  wrote  many  things 
about  us  her  friends  loving  or  hating,  even  about  the  very 
teacher’s  face  or  manner.  The  brother-in-law,  our  father  and 
mother  and  I,  so-and-so  and  our  dialogues  or  conversations 
made  models  for  her  writing.  There  were  some  places  I 
felt  so  sorry  about,  that  they  had  to  be  written. 

“This  little  sister  was  quite  a  dandy  when  she  was  very 
small.  She  used  to  like  to  change  her  dress  more  than  four 
times  a  day,  but.  she  has  grown  a  nice  girl  now  and  no  more 
wants  such  foolish  things  as  this.  She  wears  her  little  kimono 
with  her  hakama  (skirt)  over  it  now  to  school  and  sometimes 
foreign  dress,  too.  Would  you  love  such  a  little  sister?” 

Ideals  of  service  are  often  unconsciously  shown  in  class  ex¬ 
ercises,  and  practical  religion  finds  a  place  there. 

A  Little  Sunday  School  Boy 

“I  know  a  sweet,  little  story  about  a  boy — he  is  one  of  my 
pupils  in  Sunday-school.  He  was  a  naughty,  restless,  little 
boy  of  nine  years.  I  shall  never  forget  his  dark,  clear  eyes 
like  the  stars  in  an  autumn  sky  and  his  lovely  manner  when 
he  listened, 


♦ 


65 


The  Japanese  Family  System 

“One  day  after  I  had  been  talking  about  prayer  I  asked 
them  whether  they  had  any  experience  in  prayer  or  not.  Then 
he  stood  and  began  to  talk.  He  blushed  and  his  voice  was 
exciting.  I  listened  to  him  entirely  forgetting  that  he  was 
the  same  little  boy  who  was  holding  the  door  when  I  had 
first  tried  to  come  into  the  room ! 

“This  was  his  story — one  afternoon  he  went  to  the  moun¬ 
tain-side  with  his  friends  to  pick  some  wild  flowers  for  their 
painting  class.  While  he  was  gathering  flowers  he  found  a 
frog  which  jumped  before  him,  out  from  the  bushes.  He  di¬ 
rected  all  his  attention  to  it  and  followed  where  it  went.  But 
suddenly  it  disappeared  from  his  sight.  He  went  on  and  on, 
searching  for  it  further.  Then  he  suddenly  began  to  look 
around  him  and  he  found  himself  alone  in  a  dark  wood  which 
he  had  never  seen  before. 

“The  tears  rushed  to  his  eyes.  He  threw  the  flowers  on  the 
ground  and  almost  he  was  going  to  cry  badly,  but  suddenly 
he  remembered  the  last  lesson  of  Sunday-school.  So  he  rubbed 
off  the  tears  and  knelt  on  the  soft  grass  and  lifted  up  his 
eyes  toward  Heaven  just  as  his  picture  of  little  Samuel  did 
in  the  lesson-paper. 

“When  he  finished  his  short  prayer  and  listened  he  soon 
heard  the  voices  of  his  friends  calling  him.  He  jumped  up 
and  started  to  run  toward  the  calling,  and  ran  and  ran,  follow¬ 
ing  the  narrow  path  which  he  had  not  seen  before.  Only  a 
little  while  after  he  met  his  companions,  who  came  to  search 
for  him. 

“As  he,  so  small,  was  telling  this  story  to  us,  I  thought  how 
he  was  too  little  to  go  to  the  hillside  without  some  older 
friends.” 


OUTLINE  OF  CHAPTER  THREE 

The  Life  of  a  Girl  in  Modern  Japan 

1.  Child  Life. 

2.  Morals,  Manners  and  Dolls. 

3.  Girls'  High  Schools,  Native  and  Christian. 

4.  Problems  for  Girls  Who  Become  Christian. 


CHAPTER  THREE 

The  Life  of  a  Girl  in  Modern  Japan 

“Today  is  the  day  that  this  baby  of  mine 
Makes  the  first  visit  to  the  shrine. 

What  shall  we  ask  for  when  we  pray? 

That  our  baby  be  kept  in  health  alway.” 

So  runs  a  song  sung  to  generation  after  generation 
of  babies  in  Japan.  When  the  baby  is  a  month  old,  he 
is  taken  on  a  first  miyamairi,  or  pilgrimage  to  the 
tutelary  shrine  of  its  village.  It  is  the  first  great  occa¬ 
sion  in  the  baby’s  life.  A  special  ceremonial  dress  has 
been  made  after  the  baby’s  birth — as  the  choice  of 
colors  depends  upon  whether  it  is  a  boy  or  a  girl — and 
with  suitable  offerings  the  mother,  and  perhaps  a 
woman  relative  or  friend  or  two,  take  the  baby  for  an 
act  of  devotion  that  is  at  once  a  parental  acknowledg¬ 
ment  and  a  prayer  for  future  blessings. 

1.  Child  Life 

In  Japan  one’s  age  is  counted  by  the  number  of 
calendar  years  in  which  one  has  lived ;  one  is  always 
at  least  one  year  older  by  the  Japanese  count  than  by 
the  American,  and  a  baby  less  than  a  full  year  old  may 
often  be  called  two.  Thus  practically  every  other  year 
in  the  small  child’s  life  there  comes  a  stated  pilgrim¬ 
age.  On  November  fifteenth  is  the  shichi-go-san  no 
iwai  or  “seven-five-three  celebration,”  when  all  Japan 


67 


68  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

aged  three,  five,  and  seven,  dresses  in  its  best  and  cele¬ 
brates  its  growing  stature  by  a  visit  to  its  guardian 
shrine. 

But  a  still  bigger  day  to  Young  Japan  is  the  day 
when  it  first  goes  to  school.  On  the  first  of  April* 
after  its  real  sixth  birthday,  it  dons  its  fresh  school 
uniform,  straps  over  its  shoulder  its  new  school-bag, 
and  trudges  forth  with  all  the  mixed  joys  and  trepida¬ 
tion  of  the  explorer  of  a  promised  land.  It  sits  on 
chairs  at  desks  in  classes  of  fifty  or  so,  has  both  men 
and  women  teachers, f  with  school  six  days  in  the 
week,  pays  a  small  tuition  fee  and  buys  its  own  books, 
and  in  general  loves  its  school  and  its  teachers  with 
the  warm  loyalty  of  its  youth.  An  occasional  child, 
perhaps  one  in  eighty,  is  fortunate  enough  to  go  to 
kindergarten.^  The  kindergarten  is  a  recognized  part 
of  the  educational  system  of  Japan,  but  not  compul¬ 
sory.  The  first  kindergarten  was  started  by  the  gov¬ 
ernment  in  1875,  only  three  years  after  the  public 
school  system  was  inaugurated.  Ten  years  later  saw 
the  establishment  of  the  first  Christian  kindergarten, 
the  forerunner  of  242  others  listed  with  it  in  the  1921 
statistics  of  “The  Christian  Movement  in  Japan.”  The 

*The  Japanese  school  year  begins  in  April  and  ends  late  in  March, 
with  a  short  vacation  before  reopening.  The  longer  summer  vacation 
and  ten  days  or  so  about  New  Year’s  divide  the  year  into  three  terms. 

tin  1919  the  proportion  of  women  teachers  in  the  elementary  schools 
was  44.8%.  There  were  25,625  elementary  schools,  with  an  enrolment 
of  over  eight  million. 

$No  statistics  are  available  for  stating  the  exact  proportion.  In  1919 
there  were  about  52,000  children  in  the  612  kindergartens  recorded  in 
the  official  statistics.  Presumably  there  were  between  three  and  four 
million  children  of  kindergarten  age. 


The  Life  of  a  Girl  in  Modern  Japan  69 

vital  importance  of  these  Christian  kindergartens  will 
be  dwelt  on  in  a  later  chapter. 

Primary  Schools 

There  are  very  few  Christian  elementary  schools  in 
Japan — twenty-seven  out  of  over  twenty-five  thousand 
elementary  schools  in  the  land.  The  reason  is  the 
strict  requirement  of  conformity  to  government  regu¬ 
lations  during  the  six  years  of  compulsory  education. 
Few  private  agencies  have  established  such  schools. 
There  is  a  marked  tendency  in  recent  years,  however, 
to  greater  elasticity  in  the  government  system;  num¬ 
bers  of  private  schools  have  been  springing  up  under 
wealthy  patronage,  and  Christians  will  find  an  increas¬ 
ing  opening  in  this  field. 

The  child’s  life  in  the  elementary  school  is  varied 
and  interesting.  There  are  the  usual  fundamentals  in 
its  own  language,  geography,  and  history,  and  in  na¬ 
ture  study  and  arithmetic;  there  are  the  ever-loved 
forms  of  handicraft  in  paper,  clay,  and  bamboo;  there 
are  drawing  and  singing,  and  for  the  girls  sewing. 
Much  attention  is  given  to  physical  education,  and  be¬ 
sides  the  prescribed  gymnastics  much  is  made  of 
games,  excursions,  and  athletic  meets.  Parents’  days 
are  great  days,  when  the  copy-books,  drawings,  com¬ 
positions,  hand- work — in  fact,  all  available  produc¬ 
tions — of  the  pupils  are  on  exhibition,  and  the  children 
themselves  act  as  receiving  committee,  ushers,  and 
guides  to  the  eager  relatives  and  friends  who  come 
to  inspect.  Elaborate  programs,  musical  and  literary, 
are  staged  for  visitors. 


70  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

Fairy  Tales 

In  these  programs  a  wealth  of  old  Japanese  folk¬ 
lore  and  traditions  is  drawn  on,  as  well  as  modern 
dialogue  and  song.  There  is  the  hero-tale  of  Momo- 
taro,  the  Beach  Boy,  loved  by  all  Japanese  children; 
with  his  faithful  followers,  the  Dog,  the  Monkey, 
and  the  Pheasant,  he  accomplished  the  destruction 
of  a  galaxy  of  demons  and  has  served  as  a  model 
of  youthful  courage  ever  since.  There  is  the  sweet 
story  of  the  Matsuyama  Mirror,  from  the  ancient 
days,  when  polished  metal  was  used  for  a  reflecting 
surface  and  such  an  instrument  was  a  rare  possession : 
a  dying  mother  had  given  her  treasured  mirror  to  her 
daughter,  saying,  “Whenever  you  are  lonely,  look  in 
this  box  and  you  will  find  me  there  to  comfort  you.” 
It  was  true ;  the  girl  found  unfailing  joy  in  the  likeness 
of  her  mother  in  the  mirror.  When  an  uncongenial 
stepmother  entered  the  family  and  tried  to  poison  the 
mind  of  the  father  with  suspicions  of  the  girl’s  in¬ 
tentions,  it  was  the  discovery  of  her  in  the  act  of  thus 
finding  consolation  from  her  mother  that  convinced 
him  of  her  filial  piety,  brought  the  stepmother  to  tears 
of  contrition,  and  restored  the  family  harmony. 

There  is,  too,  the  story  of  the  Sun-Goddess  Ama- 
terasu,  the  ancestress  of  Japan,— how  when  she  hid  in 
a  cave  because  her  naughty  brother  had  played  a 
trick  on  her  (as  naughty  young  brothers  will)  and  the 
world  was  troubled  because  of  the  darkness,  the  God 
of  the  Strong  Hands  pulled  away  the  rock  at  the 
mouth  of  the  cave,  and  the  rooster  greeted  cheerily  the 


The  Life  of  a  Girl  in  Modern  Japan  71 

first  rays  that  preceded  her  exit.  That  is  why  you  see 
a  rooster  with  a  drum  in  pictures  of  the  rising  sun — 
the  drum  having  been  used  by  the  other  gods  and  god¬ 
desses  to  make  merry  and  entice  the  peevish  goddess 
out.  This  myth  of  an  eclipse,  and  others  from  the 
thousand  years  of  stories  that  antedate  real  history, 
are  a  vital  part  of  a  Japanese  child’s  education 
and  are  taught  as  history  not  only  to  the  children  in 
the  primary  schools,  but  to  their  older  brothers  and 
sisters  in  secondary  schools  as  well. 

When  the  modern  educational  system  was  founded 
in  1872,  and  an  Imperial  Rescript  established  the 
standard  that  “henceforward  education  shall  be  so  dif¬ 
fused  that  there  may  not  be  a  village  with  an  ignorant 
family,  nor  a  family  with  an  ignorant  member,”  the 
Department  of  Education  made  no  sudden  break  with 
the  past  in  the  teaching  of  the  nation’s  origin.  To  have 
knocked  out  the  foundations  of  the  national  faith  with¬ 
out  providing  a  constructive  substitute  might  have 
threatened  unknown  evils  to  state  and  society.  In  the 
building  of  a  distinct  nationalism  through  the  agency 
of  the  public  school  system,  the  old  religious  ideas  of 
the  divine  origin  of  the  Imperial  line  and  of  the  nation 
seemed  to  the  educators  indispensable.  In  spite  of  the 
progress  of  knowledge  and  the  influence  of  thought 
from  the  West,  this  system  of  teaching  mythology  as 
history  still  prevails ;  and  teachers  who  from  their  own 
higher  training  and  wider  reading  are  familiar  with  the 
critical  attitude  of  modern  thinkers  toward  ancient 
stories  of  origins  still  follow  the  beaten  track  and  teach 


72  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

what  is  set  before  them.  This  condition,  however,  can¬ 
not  long  stand  out  against  the  new  spirit  of  internation¬ 
alism  that  is  invading  Japan;  and  Japanese  voices  are 
being  raised  in  protest  against  it. 

Mythology  vs.  History 

Writes  a  Waseda  University  professor  in  a  recent 
magazine  ;*  “What  an  anachronism  it  is  to  depend 
upon  mythology  for  ancient  historical  facts !  ...  It  is 
narrow-minded  of  Japanese  historians  to  hunt  up  the 
source  of  Japanese  mythology  in  Japan  only.  Now  is 
the  time  when  mythology  should  be  released  to  a  wider 
sphere.  As  the  history  of  Europe  cannot  be  solved  in 
Europe  only,  so  Japanese  history  requires  explanations 
not  confined  in  Japan  alone  .  .  .  What  is  seen  in  Japan’s 
ancient  history  has  been  found  in  histories  of  the  South 
Sea  Islands  and  many  other  places.  We  should  not 
limit  our  research  to  the  small  space  which  now  forms 
our  territory  .  .  .  Even  school  children  know  that  there 
must  be  a  gap  between  history  and  mythology,  although 
they  cannot  define  it  like  learned  men.  To  begin  the 
first  page  of  history  with  mythological  stories  is  old- 
fashioned  and  false  ...  We  want  to  know  everything 
about  our  ancestors  exactly  as  they  were,  and  trace  the 
true  course  of  our  progress.” 

2.  Morals,  Manners  and  Dolls 

A  study  in  Japanese  schools  that  deserves  special 
mention  is  shushin,  or  morals.  This  subject  in  speci- 


*Kaiho,  Jan.,  1922.  Translated  in  the  Japan  Advertiser, 


The  Life  of  a  Girl  in  Modern  Japan  73 

ally  prepared  graded  text  books  is  carried  through 
both  elementary  and  secondary  schools,  and  covers  not 
only  the  two  fundamental  national  virtues,  but  a  long 
list  of  others,  as  kindness,  truthfulness,  thrift,  dili¬ 
gence,  unselfishness,  care  of  others’  property,  public 
spirit.  I  once  saw  a  lesson  in  shnshin  taught  dramati¬ 
cally  to  a  class  of  the  third  or  the  fourth  grade.  The 
story  was  of  two  children  on  their  way  home  from 
school ;  one  breaks  the  thong  of  her  wooden  clog  and 
has  to  stop;  the  other  one  assists  her  by  taking  her 
bundles  and  helping  in  a  temporary  mending  of  the 
thong  with  some  available  bit  of  cord.  The  teacher 
called  up  little  girls  in  couples  and  had  them  go 
through  in  pantomime  in  front  of  the  class  the  scene 
of  kindly  helpfulness. 

Shushin 

The  formal  basis  for  the  teaching  of  shushin  is  the 
Imperial  Rescript  on  Education.  This  document  was 
issued  by  the  beloved  Meiji  Emperor  in  1890  and  em¬ 
bodies  the  ideals  for  national  and  individual  character 
as  developed  from  Confucian  ethics.  It  is  not  only 
studied  in  the  class-room,  but  read  with  ceremony  at 
special  school  exercises  on  the  “three  great  holidays.”* 
The  reading  is  preceded  by  the  singing  of  the  national 

*These  holidays  are:  New  Year’s  Day,  when  all  Japan  adds  one  year 
to  its  age,  and  a  new  page  of  life  is  turned  with  the  shihohai,  the  wor¬ 
ship  of  “the  800,000  gods”  in  the  four  quarters  of  the  compass— for 
Christians  the  worship  of  the  one  all-comprising  God  in  a  church 
service— on  the  first  day  of  the  year;  Kigensetsu,  February  11,  the  an¬ 
niversary  of  the  founding  of  the  Empire  in  660  B.  C.  and  of  the  pro¬ 
mulgation  of  the  modern  constitution  in  1889;  and  the  Day  for 
celebrating  the  Emperor’s  Birthday,  October  31.  (The  real  birthday 
is  August  31,  but  the  national  celebration  is  in  the  autumn.)  In  girls’ 
schools,  the  Empress’s  Birthday,  June  25,  is  also  observed. 


74  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

song,  Kimigayo;  the  audience  remains  standing  while 
the  scroll  is  respectfully  removed  from  its  silk  wrap¬ 
pings  in  a  specially  prepared  box,  and  listens  with 
bowed  head  to  the  impressively  intoned  reading  by  the 
principal  or  the  head  teacher.  An  effective  song  of 
response  is  frequently  used  in  girls’  schools  to  close 
the  ceremony.  It  may  be  remarked  in  passing  that 
there  is  nothing  in  this  Rescript  in  any  way  conflicting 
with  Christ’s  teachings.  It  is  read  at  these  functions 
in  Christian  schools  as  well  as  in  all  others. 

Besides  the  formal  teaching  of  morals,  there  are  the 
things  that  everywhere  in  a  girl’s  life  help  to  develop 
valuable  traits  of  character.  Her  games,  often  played 
on  the  street  with  a  companion  or  two, — tossing  bean- 
bags  in  intricate  ways  in  a  sing-song  counting  accom¬ 
paniment,  battledore  and  shuttlecock  (the  New  Year 
game),  hop-scotch  (even  with  clogs!),  blind-man’s- 
buff,  jumping  rope,  tag, — all  help  to  perseverance  and 
friendly  competition.  Her  doll-plays  include  tea-par- 
ties  and  dressings  up  and  lullabies;  Japanese  dolls  have 
one  enjoyment  which  the  dolls  of  the  West  do  not 
have —  riding  on  their  mothers’  backs  like  real  babies ! 
Sometimes  a  cushion  is  rolled  up  and  tied  on  the  little 
girl’s  back  as  preparation  for  carrying  the  baby  brother 
or  sister  with  whom  she  is  soon  to  be  entrusted.  With 
introduction  of  the  baby  carriage  and  of  knowledge 
of  the  laws  of  hygiene,  however,  the  carrying  of  the 
babies  on  the  back  has  considerably  diminished  among 
the  upper  classes. 


The  Life  of  a  Girl  in  Modern  Japan  75 
Fascinating  Festivals 

The  daily  doll-plays  have,  as  everywhere,  their  in¬ 
herent  value  for  developing  the  domestic  instinct. 
There  is,  besides,  an  annual  doll-play  that  is  very  dear 
to  the  Japanese  child’s  heart,  and  that  speaks  of  pat¬ 
riotism  and  beauty  as  well  as  of  home  life.  That  is  the 
ancient  Dolls’  Festival  on  the  third  day  of  the  third 
month.  For  that  day  the  precious  historic  “dolls”  or 
statuettes  are  taken  out  of  the  storehouses  and  set  up 
on  carefully  arranged  tiers  of  shelves— the  Emperor 
and  the  Empress  above  in  the  stately  glory  of  their 
ancient  robes;  the  Prime  Minister  of  the  Left  and  the 
Prime  Minister  of  the  Right,  and  the  court  ladies  in 
gorgeous  attire;  then  five  court  musicians  with  their 
quaint  instruments;  and  below,  the  vases  of  peach 
blossoms,  and  the  feast  of  special  cakes,  white,  red, 
and  green  for  this  festival,  on  dainty  stands  with  all 
the  miniature  charm  of  dolls’  tea  sets  in  the  West. 
Other  lesser  figures  may  be  added  ad  libitum  to  the 
display.  No  wonder  the  little  girl’s  heart  swells  within 
her  breast  during  the  few  precious  days  when  these 
treasures  are  brought  out  to  view,  and  she  and  her 
friends  gather  to  enjoy  them  and  have  their  little  par¬ 
ties  at  one  another’s  home.  But  even  this  pretty  do¬ 
mestic  celebration  has  had  to  be  attacked  by  the  tem¬ 
perance  societies,  because  one  of  its  main  delicacies  is 
the  shirozake,  a  modified  form  of  sake,  from  which  a 
child  might  readily  acquire  his  first  taste  for  alcoholic 
liquor. 

The  little  girl  will  join  her  brother  in  the  celebration 


76  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

of  the  Boys’  Festival,  too,  on  the  fifth  day  of  the  fifth 
month,  and  will  share  his  pleasure  in  the  statuettes  of 
ancient  warriors,  and  in  the  great  cloth  or  paper  fish 
that  float  in  the  wind  from  the  high  pole  where  they 
have  been  strung — one  for  every  boy  in  the  family — 
to  inspire  him  with  the  same  perseverance  in  overcom¬ 
ing  difficulty  that  the  strong-backed  carp  displays  when 
he  swims  up  a  waterfall. 

Then  there  is  the  O  Bon ,  that  beautiful  expression 
of  the  world’s  universal  feeling  for  its  dead.  It  is  the 
Japanese  Hallowe’en  on  the  sixteenth  night  of  the 
seventh  month.  The  family  graves  are  weeded  and 
tidied  in  preparation,  fresh  offerings  of  flowers  are 
laid  there,  fires  are  set  and  illuminations  made  to  light 
the  way  of  the  spirits  to  their  old  haunts  and  back. 
The  immortality  of  the  soul  is  no  new  idea  to  the  Japa¬ 
nese  child. 

3.  Girls’  High  Schools,  Native  and  Christian 

The  completing  of  the  six  years  of  compulsory  edu¬ 
cation  marks  an  epoch  in  every  girl’s  life.  Although 
the  upper  and  upper-middle  classes  now  generally  send 
their  daughters  either  to  the  higher  elementary  school 
for  two  years  more,  or  to  a  secondary  school  of  some 
sort — industrial,  commercial,  normal,  household 
science,  or  regular  high  school — the  large  majority  of 
the  four  million  girls  in  the  elementary  schools  to-day 
will  have  no  further  formal  education  except  training 
in  sewing.  Many  of  them  go  to  work  in  their  own 
homes,  helping  with  the  house-keeping  and  the  care  of 


The  Life  of  a  Girl  in  Modern  Japan  77 

younger  children,  or  helping  in  the  family  business, 
whether  it  be  shop-keeping,  farming,  or  one  of  many 
of  the  petty  trades  still  conducted  in  an  individual  way 
in  spite  of  the  modern  tendency  to  swallow  up  small 
business  into  large.  Home  industries  there  still  are, 
though  these  have  been  much  reduced  by  the  introduc¬ 
tion  of  factories.  The  raising  of  silk-worms  in  the 
home  occupies  multitudes  of  women  and  girls  in  cer¬ 
tain  districts  of  Japan;  the  pasting  of  match-boxes, 
matting- weaving,  dyeing,  embroidering  are  some  of 
the  ways  of  money-making  at  home.  Many  go  out  as 
nurse-girls  or  house-maids,  many  enter  factories,  es¬ 
pecially  silk  and  cotton  spinning  and  weaving  estab¬ 
lishments. 

Six  hundred  and  eighty-two  thousand  girls  are  in¬ 
cluded  in  the  Home  Office  report  on  child  workers 
of  all  sorts,  and  96,000  girls  under  fifteen  years  of 
age  out  of  a  total  of  763,000  female  employees  were 
at  work  in  factories  at  the  end  of  1918.  Twenty 
thousand  three  hundred  and  ninety-eight  girls  under 
eighteen  were  in  training  for  geisha  or  dancing-girls.* 
Of  those  who  have  had  a  little  more  education,  many 
go  into  telephone  offices,  or  ticket  offices,  or  take  brief 
training  for  clerical  positions  in  business  houses.  A 
large  factory  may  run  its  own  training  courses  for 
such  girls. 

We  hope  in  a  later  chapter  to  get  glimpses  of  the  life 
of  some  of  these  workers.  Let  us  now  follow  the  120,- 


*See  Dr.  S.  L.  Gulick’s  “Working  Women  of  Japan”  for  interesting 
chapters  on  women  in  these  various  occupations. 


78  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

000  more  fortunate  girls  in  the  high  schools  of  today, 
where  body  and  mind  are  being  developed  for  a  larger 
service  to  their  generation.  They  carry  a  heavy  sche¬ 
dule  of  thirty  hours  of  class  work  a  week,  of  which 
generally  three  are  gymnastics,  two  singing,  one  draw¬ 
ing,  one  Japanese  penmanship,  and  four  to  eight  sew¬ 
ing — for  a  girl  should  learn  to  make  all  the  hand- 
sewed  Japanese  garments  of  man,  woman,  and  child, 
and  besides  learn  to  use  a  Singer  sewing-machine! 

Hard  Study  Called  For 

Then  she  must  have  elements  of  all  the  sciences, 
and  must  study  the  history  and  geography  not  only  of 
Japan  and  the  Orient,  which,  of  course,  come  first,  but 
likewise,  though  only  in  Outline,  that  of  Europe  and 
North  and  South  America.  For  mathematics,  she 
continues  arithmetic  with  a  little  abacus  practice  on 
the  side,  has  elementary  geography,  and  does  or  does 
not  touch  algebra,  as  her  school  happens  to  prescribe. 
Her  study  of  her  own  language,  in  graded  readers 
with  a  wide  variety  of  material,  involves  learning  many 
Chinese  characters  that  are  even  more  fundamental  to 
Japanese  literature  than  Latin  is  to  English*  In  fact, 
the  study  of  Chinese  ideographs  cannot  be  called  that 
of  a  foreign  language,  so  incorporated  has  it  become. 
The  girl's  foreign  language  is  English,  generally  two 
or  three  hours  a  week,  required  in  some  high  schools, 
elective  in  others,  but  growing  in  importance  as  Ja¬ 
pan’s  contacts  with  the  West  increase.  Domestic 
science  gives  the  girl  practical  experience  in  cooking, 
laundering,  and  household  accounting ;  besides,  her 


The  Life  of  a  Girl  in  Modern  Japan  79 

school  tasks  include  taking  her  turn  at  cleaning  class¬ 
rooms  and  halls ;  and  in  some  government  school  dor¬ 
mitories  the  students  themselves  have  charge  of  pro¬ 
viding  and  cooking  their  meals,  and  running  the  house¬ 
hold  expenses. 

The  domestic  and  social  side  of  her  training  is  often 
further  promoted  by  the  girl’s  parents,  by  the  addition 
of  private  lessons  in  music,  flower  arrangement,  and 
ceremonial  tea.  Some  of  the  high  schools  provide 
these  subjects  as  electives.  The  koto,  that  has  had  in 
Japanese  society  the  place  of  the  piano  in  the  West,  is 
a  long,  thirteen-stringed  instrument  laid  on  the  floor, 
while  the  player,  sitting  on  her  feet  on  a  cushion  be¬ 
hind  it,  uses  plectrums  on  thumb  and  two  fingers  of  the 
right  hand  to  pluck  the  strings,  with  the  left  hand  free 
to  adjust  bridges  and  press  strings  to  alter  pitch.  It 
traditionally  takes  seven  years  to  learn  to  play  the  koto 
well.  Flower  arrangement  in  any  one  of  several 
recognized  systems,  and  the  tea  ceremony,  of  which 
there  are  different  schools,  demand  also  many  years 
of  practice  for  perfection  in  detail.  Both  arts  require 
a  high  standard  of  patience  and  self-control  and,  when 
mastered,  become  an  expression  of  poetry  in  human 
life.  Like  all  meditative  graces,  they  are  suffering 
from  the  rush  and  pressure  of  the  modern  active  life, 
and  their  elaborate  forms  of  a  more  deliberate  age  are 
being  abridged  to  save  at  least  something  of  their 
essence  to  the  social  world  of  today. 

It  is  in  the  item  of  girls’  high  schools  that  the  Chris¬ 
tian  movement  of  Japan  has  made  its  largest  numerical 


80  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

contribution  to  the  cause  of  education.  There  are 
fifty-four  Christian  girls’  schools  of  secondary  grade, 
chiefly  mission  schools,  a  few  being  Christian  schools 
under  Japanese  support  and  control.  Their  total  en¬ 
rolment  is  about  13,000.  The  entire  number  of  girls’ 
high  schools, — public  and  recognized  private  schools — 
is  455,  with  an  enrolment  of  about  130,000. 

Religion  Not  Taught  in  Public  Schools 
Thus  the  Christian  schools  represent  about  one- 
tenth  of  the  high  school  education  of  girls  in  Japan. 
They  are  chiefly  schools  of  recognized  standing  with 
the  Department  of  Education,  of  two  types:  one  type 
identical  with  the  government  high  schools,  the  other 
“equivalent  to”  a  government  high  school.  The  former 
type,  conforming  completely  to  the  national  educa¬ 
tional  system,  has  no  religious  teaching  in  its  curricu¬ 
lum  or  formal  school  exercise.  By  a  fundamental  pro¬ 
hibition  of  religion  Buddhism,  Shintoism,  and  Chris¬ 
tianity  are  alike  excluded  from  government  schools. 
Mission  schools  of  this  type  have  their  Bible  classes 
and  religious  meetings  voluntary  and  out  of  school 
hours.  The  second  type  has  Bible  teaching  in  its  cur¬ 
riculum  and  required  chapel  attendance,  sometimes 
even  required  attendance  at  church  or  Sunday  school, 
and  a  little  more  freedom  in  its  courses  and  text¬ 
books.  The  strong  point  of  a  mission  school,  besides 
its  religious  training,  is  its  English  teaching,  as  it  has 
one  or  more  foreign  teachers  and  few  of  the  purely 
Japanese  schools  do;  and  often  a  mission  school  offers 
special  advantages  in  instrumental  music.  Piano  and 


i 


mm 


d 

£ 


FIRST  CLASS  IN  TRAINING  FOR  SOCIAL  SECRETARYSHIP  SERVICE, 


' 


The  Life  of  a  Girl  in  Modern  Japan  81 

the  reed-organ,  particularly  the  former,  have  grown 
into  great  popularity  in  recent  years  with  a  corre¬ 
sponding  growth  in  the  appreciation  of  western  music. 

When  mission  schools  started  in  the  ’70’s,*  they 
were  pioneers  in  girls’  education.  They  had  the  field 
so  largely  to  themselves  at  first  that  they  went  their 
own  way  and  enjoyed  a  fair  degree  of  prosperity  dur¬ 
ing  the  years  when  Christianity  and  things  foreign 
were  popular.  Then  in  the  ’90’s  came  the  nationalis¬ 
tic  reaction  when  western  civilization  and  thought 
were  at  a  discount  and  the  Christian  movement  seemed 
to  suffer  a  check.  Attendance  at  Christian  schools  fell 
off;  some  were  even  closed.  With  the  revision  of  the 
treaties  with  the  West  on  the  eve  of  the  new  century 
the  tide  turned,  but  mission  schools  found  that  they 
had  been  losing  ground  in  more  ways  than  mere  num¬ 
bers.  The  government  school  system  had  been  perfect¬ 
ed  and  every  large  center  had  its  well-equipped  girls’ 
high  school  with  systematized  course  and  licensed 
teachers. 

Mission  Handicaps 

Most  mission  schools  had  no  standing  with  the 
government  except  a  permission  to  exist,  and  few 
if  any  teachers  with  government  licenses.  Their 
equipment  was  not  up  to  date  nor  their  constituency 
such  as  to  make  them  known.  Of  course,  there  were 
shining  exceptions,  but  in  general  the  first  decade  of 
the  century  was  a  time  of  mission  schools’  waking  up 

*Ferris  Seminary,  Yokohama,  started  in  1870  by  the  Mission  of  the 
Reformed  Church  in  America,  was  the  first  Christian  girls’  school  in 
Japan. 


82  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

to  the  competition  they  had  to  face,  of  their  asking 
their  home  boards  for  increased  appropriations  for 
better  equipment  and  for  improving  the  teaching 
force.  Without  these  things  they  could  not  secure 
government  recognition ;  and  without  that  recognition 
their  graduates  were  handicapped  in  entering  higher 
schools  or  seeking  teaching  positions.  Now  the  ma¬ 
jority  of  mission  schools  have  the  essential  recogni¬ 
tion;  they  have  received  impartial,  or  even  kindly, 
treatment  from  the  government;  their  value  for  char¬ 
acter  training  is  recognized  beyond  their  circle,  and 
in  these  days  of  pressure  for  educational  opportunity 
some  mission  schools  in  large  cities,  like  the  purely 
Japanese  schools,  are  rejecting  hundreds  of  candi¬ 
dates  annually  for  lack  of  room. 

4.  Problems  for  Girls  Who  Become  Christian 

The  celebration  of  the  national  holidays  presents  no 
religious  problem  to  Christian  schools.  The  “Three 
Great  Holidays”  have  already  been  mentioned.  The 
four  holidays  of  a  distinctly  religious  nature  are  not 
observed  by  any  special  ceremony  at  school.  These 
days  are  the  two  equinoctial  festivals  for  the  worship 
of  the  imperial  ancestors,  and  the  two  harvest  festi¬ 
vals,  the  first  in  October  when  the  new  rice  is  offered 
to  the  gods,  and  the  second  in  November  when  the 
Emperor  first  formally  partakes  of  the  new  rice.  This 
festival,  November  23,  has  been  appropriated  in  some 
mission  schools  as  a  Thanksgiving  Day,  and  a  near 
Sunday  is  being  increasingly  observed  among  the 


The  Life  of  a  Girl  in  Modern  Japan  83 

churches  as  such  an  occasion.  On  these  four  holidays 
the  Emperor  in  a  representative  capacity  performs  for 
the  nation  certain  ceremonies,  within  the  imperial  pal¬ 
ace  shrine,  to  the  Sun-Goddess  and  the  imperial  spirits. 

Emperor  Worship 

A  nearer  problem  is  the  question  of  reverence  or 
worship  paid  to  the  portrait  of  the  Emperor  in  a  Ja¬ 
panese  school.  Some  mission  schools  have  no  picture 
of  the  Emperor,  declining  the  honor  as  one  involving 
too  great  a  responsibility.  The  ceremonious  care  that 
must  be  given  to  such  an  object  is  a  burden  not  to  be 
lightly  undertaken.  The  question  whether  the  rev¬ 
erence  paid  to  it  is  worship  or  not  has  agitated  many  a 
conscientious  heart,  but  the  general  opinion  now  is  that 
it  does  not  compromise  a  Christian  to  take  part  in  such 
a  ceremony.  The  Japanese  word  ogamu,  “to  worship” 
like  the  Greek  word  in  the  original  of  Revelation  3  :9, 
does  not  define  the  theological  status  of  its  object. 
Neither  does  the  act  of  bowing,  in  a  country  where 
bowing  is  a  universal  form  of  greeting  and  of  expres¬ 
sing  reverence.  The  one  act  definitely  limited  to  wor¬ 
ship  is  joining  the  palms  of  the  raised  hands  and  bow¬ 
ing  over  them.  This  I  have  never  seen  done  in  a 
school  when  students  were  bowing  to  the  Imperial 
portraits.  The  educational  authorities  claim  that  cere¬ 
monious  reverence  to  the  Emperor  is  not  a  religious, 
but  a  patriotic  act.  A  similar  explanation  must  be 
given  when  schools  are  ordered  to  take  their  pupils 
for  worship  (?)  at  a  shrine.  There  are  many  deified 
heroes  in  Japan  somewhat  like  the  canonized  saints  in 


84  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

Europe ;  only,  in  Japan  the  line  between  deities  and  the 
heroic  dead  is  very  faintly  drawn.  The  undiscrimi- 
nating  mind  reveres  both  as  something  superhuman. 
The  Christian  Japanese  discriminates  and  continues  to 
revere. 

Dealing  with  Superstition 

The  problem  to  a  Christian  and  to  a  mission  school 
and  its  solution  are  illustrated  by  this  incident  related 
by  the  late  President  Takagi  of  Aoyama  Gakuin  (the 
Methodist  Episcopal  men’s  college  in  Tokyo)  : 

“There  is  a  shrine  in  the  city  district  where  I  live, 
and  once  they  came  around  through  the  district  to  col¬ 
lect  subscriptions  for  repairs  on  this  shrine.  I  said, 
T  don’t  know  what  this  shrine  is  in  honor  of,  and,  be¬ 
ing  a  Christian,  I  cannot  contribute  to  what  I  don’t 
know  about.’  So  I  asked  the  collector  to  wait  until  I 
could  investigate.  I  went  to  the  Bureau  of  Religions 
in  the  government  and  looked  up  the  history  of  this 
shrine.  I  found  that  it  was  in  reality  a  double  shrine, 
one  part  being  dedicated  to  an  ancient  hero,  one  to  oni 
no  ko,  ‘the  demon’s  son.’  I  told  the  collector  that  I 
would  gladly  help  to  preserve  the  memory  of  the 
patriot  honored  at  the  shrine,  but  as  a  Christian  I 
could  not  share  in  the  worship  of  the  demon’s  son ; 
and,  as  the  two  seemed  bound  together  in  this  case,  I 
must  decline  to  contribute.” 

An  intelligent  attitude  like  this  hastens  the  passing 
of  superstitions.  It  is  a  temptation  in  Japan  as  else¬ 
where,  either  to  conform  to  prevailing  customs  or  at¬ 
titudes  because  that  is  the  path  of  least  resistance,  or 


"  1  :v.  :\w  ■  ‘  ’■  ■?■■  v- 


\ 


•  •■ 


* 


ATHLETIC  LEADERS,  TOKYO  COLLEGE 


The  Life  of  a  Girl  in  Modern  Japan  85 

to  break  with  them  entirely  and  be  a  social  iconoclast. 
In  moral  matters  the  modern  Christian,  like  the  chosen 
people  of  old,  must  hear  the  word,  “Come  ye  out  from 
among  them  and  be  ye  separate.”  But  in  the  opinion 
of  many,  both  missionaries  and  Japanese  Christians, 
there  are  questions  of  national  tradition  or  theological 
import  where  severance  is  non-essential ;  where  the 
Pauline  gift  of  “discernings  of  spirits,”  by  discrimi¬ 
nating  between  the  good  and  its  alloy,  the  permanent 
and  the  temporary  in  Japan’s  inheritance  from  the 
past,  may  best  promote  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God. 

A  mission  school  girl  has  thus  summarized  her  un¬ 
derstanding  of  the  problem :  “There  was  also  hero- 
worship  in  Greece.  Christianity  treated  it  as  follows : 
God  gives  certain  men  a  special  power  to  do  His  will. 
Therefore,  they  are  only  the  representatives  of  God’s 
power.  We  are  all  right  to  reverence  the  heroes,  but 
we  must  not  forget  that  above  them  is  God  who  con¬ 
trols  over  us  and  over  the  universe.” 

An  illustrative  incident  occurred  last  year,  when 
schools  all  over  the  nation  were  invited  to  contribute 
to  the  repair  of  the  Kashiwabara  Shrine,  the  shrine 
that  marks  the  traditional  grave  of  the  Emperor  Jim- 
mu,  the  founder  of  the  Empire.  In  one  of  the  mission 
schools  to  which  the  appeal  came,  it  was  treated  as  an 
educational  opportunity.  The  cause  was  presented 
and  a  Japanese  pastor  was  asked  to  speak  in  chapel  on 
the  meaning  of  the  contribution  and  the  modern 
change  of  attitude  towards  the  great  dead  from  the 


86  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

ancient  Shinto  conception  of  their  deification  to  the 
Christian  one  of  grateful  admiration  and  reverence. 
Voluntary  subscriptions  from  teachers  and  students 
were  then  forwarded  in  the  name  of  the  school. 

Another  Japanese  pastor,  one  trained  at  Princeton, 
said  to  me  a  few  years  ago,  “I  believe  that  a  Christian 
girl  in  an  old-fashioned  home  can  often  give  a  stronger 
witness  to  her  Christianity  by  doing  the  filial  task  as¬ 
signed  her  of  placing  the  daily  flowers  and  offerings 
before  the  ancestral  tablets  in  a  true  spirit  of  service, 
than  by  calling  the  whole  thing  heathen  and  refusing 
to  have  anything  to  do  with  it.” 

There  is  a  class  of  ideas,  however,  that  is  merely 
evolving  out  of  a  religious  status  into  that  of  folk-lore 
or  convention.  The  Seven  Gods  of  Good  Luck,  for 
instance,  are  being  (like  the  gods  of  Greece  and  Rome 
in  the  West)  used  for  decorative  purposes,  even  on 
mercantile  symbols  or  advertisements.  The  gate 
decorations  at  New  Year’s  time  include,  besides  em¬ 
blems  of  long  life  and  prosperity,  the  tufted  straw  rope 
hung  on  shrines,  sacred  trees,  etc.,  in  the  ancient  Shin¬ 
to  worship;  yet  I  have  recently  seen  this  used  on  the 
gates  of  Christians  who  evidently  thought  of  it  as 
nothing  more  than  a  form  of  conventional  art. 

What  of  Incense  Burning? 

In  a  Christian  girls’  school  it  once  happened  that 
the  funerals  of  two  students  came  on  the  same  day. 
Both  funeral  services  were  in  Buddhist  temples,  and  to 
each  a  group  of  students  went  under  the  chaperonage 
of  a  Japanese  Christian  teacher  to  pay  their  last  tribute 


The  Life  of  a  Girl  in  Modern  Japan  87 

to  a  school  friend.  In  each  service,  as  usual,  there 
was  given  at  the  close  opportunity  for  friends  to  go 
up  to  the  casket,  bow,  and  sprinkle  incense  on  the  bra¬ 
zier  before  it.  The  teacher  in  charge  of  one  group  per¬ 
mitted  her  students  to  join  in  this  act;  the  one  in 
charge  of  the  other  group  did  not.  On  returning  to 
school,  notes  were  compared  and  much  discussion  fol¬ 
lowed  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  burning  of  the  incense. 
The  discussion  was  finally  closed  with  the  opinion  of 
the  resident  Japanese  pastor  that  incense-burning  in 
this  case  was  merely  the  conventionalized  form  of 
greeting  to  the  departed,  like  laying  flowers  at  a  grave, 
and  that  it  did  not  signify  necessarily  worship.  The 
difference  of  opinion  among  Christians  themselves  on 
points  like  these  is  one  of  the  signs  of  the  transition  of 
thought  through  which  the  age  is  passing,  and  of  the 
conflict  of  ideas  old  and  new  amid  which  young  Japan 
is  feeling  its  way. 

Most  of  the  students  in  Christian  schools  are  not 
from  Christian  homes.  Their  parents  have  sent  them 
for  one  of  several  possible  reasons:  because  the  local 
government  school  was  full  and  could  not  take  them; 
because  some  friend  had  a  daughter  there,  or  the  girl 
wished  to  go  with  a  friend;  because  the  English  and 
the  music  attracted  them;  because  they  thought  re¬ 
ligion  was  a  good  thing  for  women;  or  because  they 
had  seen  the  fruits  of  Christianity  and  really  wanted 
it.  Some  do  not  care  if  their  daughters  do  become 
Christians;  some  hope  they  will  not,  and  use  pressure 
to  dissuade  them  if  they  show  tendencies  that  way. 


88  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

The  main  reason  for  fearing  a  girl’s  conversion  is  that 
it  might  endanger  her  marriage  chances;  and,  in  any 
case,  it  would  introduce  a  divergent  element  in  the 
home-life,  which  usually  connects  its  joyful  occasions 
with  Shinto  ceremonies,  and  its  funerals  and  death 
anniversaries  with  Buddhist  ones. 

The  Conquering  Love  of  Christ 

There  is  a  power  in  the  love  of  Christ,  however,  that 
overcomes  these  obstacles ;  and  when  the  girl,  respond¬ 
ing  to  that  love  under  the  guidance  of  a  Christian 
teacher,  comes  to  the  point  of  making  a  life  decision  to 
follow  Christ,  she  is  ready  to  be  patient,  to  wait  and 
work  and  suffer,  if  need  be,  that  her  parents  may  be 
brought  to  know  and  share  that  love  with  her. 

One  girl  who  had  made  the  decision  for  herself  had 
asked  her  father  for  permission  to  be  baptized,  and 
had  been  refused.  She  waited  a  while,  going  on  in 
school,  and  asked  again  with  the  same  result.  She  con¬ 
tinued  to  ask  at  intervals,  however,  and  finally,  when 
she  felt  that  he  was  weakening,  she  made  consent  easy 
for  him  by  writing  home  from  the  school  dormitory, 
“There  is  to  be  a  baptismal  service  in  the  church  week 
after  next,  and,  if  I  don’t  hear  from  you  before  that, 
I  shall  know  that  you  are  willing  I  should  be  baptized 
then.”  He  availed  himself  of  this  means  of  escape 
and  failed  to  answer  the  letter.  The  daughter  and  a 
younger  sister  were  the  means  of  bringing  him  later 
on  his  death-bed  to  a  joyful,  personal  sense  of  the  love 
of  Christ.  She  and  her  husband  are  now  officers  in 


The  Life  of  a  Girl  in  Modern  Japan  89 

the  Japanese  Salvation  Army,  with  a  happy,  little 
family  of  soldiers  growing  up  around  them. 

Of  the  thousands  of  girls  who  have  gone  out  of 
these  mission  schools  to  homes  all  over  Japan,  many 
of  them  wives  of  pastors  or  teachers,  many  of  them 
influential  in  the  churches  of  their  locality,  helping  to 
leaven  with  the  leaven  of  Christ  the  life  about  them, — 
of  these  volumes  might  be  written.  Most  of  those  who 
have  stayed  in  a  mission  school  long  enough  to  gradu¬ 
ate  are  professed  Christians.  But  the  many  who  have 
stayed  only  a  short  time  will  never  forget  the  impress 
of  the  Christian  ideal  that  came  to  them  there.  They 
are  different  because  they  have  been  there. 

The  average  Japanese  girl  is  married  at  about 
twenty  years  of  age.  If  she  has  been  to  high  school 
she  takes  a  year  or  two  after  graduation  for  special 
training  in  sewing  or  cooking  or  both,  in  preparation 
for  the  marriage  that  her  elders  are  seeking  for  her. 
As  the  male  population  of  Japan  exceeds  the  female, 
there  is  a  potential  husband  for  every  normal  girl ;  and 
she  looks  forward  with  all  of  a  maiden’s  high  hopes  to 
the  bridal  day  of  her  dreams. 

SELECTIONS 

In  the  religious  development  of  a  student  the  yielding  of 
the  will  is  sometimes  a  late  step,  coming  long  after  intellec¬ 
tual  conviction  of  the  truth  of  Christ.  The  following  ex¬ 
tract  is  autobiographical,  although  written  in  the  third  person. 
It  is  the  story  of  an  orphan  who  had  fought  loneliness  and  ill 
health  all  her  life,  and  had  entered  a  Christian  college  after 
graduation  from  a  secular  high  school.  At  the  time  of  these 
extracts,  her  years  in  a  Christian  atmosphere  had  led  her 


90  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

through  a  number  of  preliminary  struggles.  Her  faith  has 
now  stood  many  a  later  test  successfully — even  radiantly. 

How  One  College  Girl  Became  a  Christian 

“After  all  the  blinds  of  the  dormitory  had  been  shut  up  and 
all  the  lights  were  put  out,  in  a  room  of  the  teacher’s  build¬ 
ing,  a  gloomy-faced  girl  and  her  dear  friend  were  talking 
quietly.  Those  days  she  looked  so  gay  and  joyful  that  every¬ 
one  who  saw  her  was  surprised  by  such  wonderful  change,  but 
that  night  her  old  gloomy  self  came  back.  .  .  .  She  was  down¬ 
cast  and  was  ready  to  give  up  her  hope.  Her  friend,  with  all 
her  heart,  encouraged  her  and  told  her  to  hold  on  until  next 
summer.  She  told  how  Miss  S.  prayed  for  the  girl  almost 
every  night,  and  how  many  other  kind  persons  were  thinking 
of  her  and  trying  to  make  her  happy.  The  long  continued 
prayer  of  Miss  S.  of  which  she  was  told  for  the  first  time 
that  night  gave  light  to  her  darkened  heart.  All  through  the 
night  she  worried,  and  thought  and  thought  without  sleeping. 
Next  morning  she  looked  bright  and  cheerful,  for  she  came 
to  think  that  the  only  way  to  return  the  kindness  and  love  of 
those  persons  was  to  try  to  be  happy  herself  and  to  be  a 
source  of  joy  to  them  all.  .  .  . 

“The  tenth  of  January  she  called  on  her  friend  who  asked 
her  to  make  a  nice  Christmas  present  (of  deciding  to  be  a 
Christian)  to  Miss  S.  who  was  coming  back. 

“‘NO/  she  cried,  ‘I  won’t/  The  spirit  of  obstinacy  and  in¬ 
subordination  rose  up  suddenly  and  that  night  she  came  home 
saying  all  the  words  she  could  think  of,  to  refuse  her  friend’s 
request.  All  the  way  home  and  all  through  the  night  she  re¬ 
peated  to  herself,  ‘No,  I  won’t,  I  can’t,  no,  I  will  never  do 
as  long  as  I  live/  ....  She  thought  as  if  the  sentence,  ‘I  will 
never  do/  were  the  only  protection  that  she  had  against  a 
great  unknown  power  which  seemed  for  her  to  have  begun 
to  conquer  her.  She  folded  her  arms  tightly  upon  her  bosom 
as  if  to  refuse  to  open  her  heart  to  God. 

“That  night  while  she  was  taking  her  bath,  still  repeating 


The  Life  of  a  Girl  in  Modern  Japan  91 

the  same  words,  the  water  reminded  her  of  the  words  which 
the  greatest  English  poet,  Shakespeare,  said: 

‘There  is  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men 

Which,  taken  at  the  flood,  leads  on  to  fortune: 

Omitted,  all  the  voyage  of  their  life 

Is  bound  in  shallows  and  in  miseries.’ 

“All  had  been  prepared  for  her  by  that  time  to  accept  God 
and  her  soul  cried,  ‘Is  it  not  the  best  chance  that  has  come 
now?  If  I  lose  this  opportunity  when  shall  I  have  an¬ 
other?’  Miss  S.’s  letter  which  she  received  that  very  day 
seemed  to  whisper  to  her  not  to  lose  the  tide  that  came.  Still 
she  heard  the  cry  of  her  bad  impression,  ‘I  will  not,’  which 
was  the  greatest  hindrance  that  she  ever  had.  As  I  have 
stated,  when  she  was  a  little  girl  she  heard  most  of  her  friends 
talk  scornfully  of  Christianity,  and  knew  that  they  did  not 
like  even  to  walk  along  before  the  houses  where  the  Christian 
families  lived.  It  had  deeply  impressed  her  little  heart  and 
feeling  against  the  religion  was  so  intense  that  it  was  the 
hardest  thing  for  her  to  surrender  herself  to  Him  whom  she 
hated  and  despised . 

(The  next  morning  she  found  two  of  her  teachers)  .  .  .  . 
“All  three  were  seated  but  she  could  find  no  word  to  express 
her  determination  and  was  silent  until  the  two  guessed  what 
she  had  to  say.  I  don’t  understand  fully  why  she  said  to  them, 
‘I  am  not  happy.’ 

“She  had  two  weeks  before  she  received  baptism.  During 
these  weeks  she  had  the  feeling  which  she  herself  could  not 
express,  not  happy,  yet  not  unhappy.  She  felt  to  have  been 
conquered,  but  she  also  heard  the  cry  of  triumph  within  her¬ 
self.  Her  heart  became  restless  and  could  not  study  quietly; 
She  tried  to  pray,  but  she  failed.  She  could  not  feel  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  God  whom  she  knew  and  believed  that  He  is  in  this 
universe,  yet  He  seems  to  her  far  distant. 

“Finally,  the  last  critical  time  came  when  her  worst  self 
tried  to  restore  her.  In  the  Friday  night  the  minister  told 
her  to  profess  that  she  would  believe  in  God  with  feeling  as 


92  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

well  as  reason.  She  was  convinced  that  Christianity  was  the 
final  and  highest  religion,  but  she  did  not  like  to  believe  in 
Him  emotionally.  She  was  disappointed  and  she  looked  as 

if  the  whole  world  were  against  her . 

“The  day  came  that  she  will  never  forget  through  all  her 
life;  the  day  when  she  was  to  express  publicly  that  she  ac¬ 
cepted  Christ  as  her  Friend  and  she  would  become  a  child 
of  One  Father.  It  was  a  rainy  day  and  her  heart  was  dreary 
as  the  day,  yet  in  the  depth  of  her  heart  she  rejoiced  that  she 
came  to  receive  baptism  before  those  who  loved  her.  Thus 
she  was  born  into  the  Christian  world.  A  few  days  later 
she  succeeded  in  prayer.  She  became  able  to  talk  with  her 
Father  freely  and  often.  The  strong  power  came  into  her 
heart.  She  enjoys  being  with  her  Father  and  talking  with 
Him.” 


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OUTLINE  OF  CHAPTER  FOUR 


Women's  Colleges  in  Japan 

1.  Opposition  to  Higher  Education  for  Women. 

2.  Five  Girl  Pioneers  of  1871. 

3.  Japanese  Colleges  Defined  and  Classified. 

4.  Seven  Non-government  College-grade  Schools  for 

Girls. 


5.  Christianising  the  Student  Body. 


CHAPTER  FOUR 


Women's  Colleges  in  Japan 

The  Japanese  girls  are  capable,  have  good  minds,  and 
some  of  them  are  very  talented.  But  as  the  result  of  the  old 
training  they  lack  self-confidence  and  initiative  and,  above 
all,  strength  of  will.  Yet  to  encourage  these,  as  some  would 
do,  without  the  basis  of  religion  and  specially  Christianity, 
and  without  the  development  of  mind  and  the  reasoning 
powers,  brings  in  the  greatest  elements  of  danger.  What  is 
needed  is  the  growth  of  the  spiritual  life,  a  real  training  of 
the  understanding,  moral  teachings  that  fit  the  new  condi¬ 
tions  of  life  in  modern  Japan,  and  which  would  develop  a 
realization  of  the  possibilities  that  come  with  freedom — in 
a  word,  Christian  education  on  higher  lines. 

— Miss  Ume  Tsuda 

When  it  is  remembered  that  not  until  1873  the  re¬ 
moval  of  the  anti-Christian  posters,  which  studded 
Japan  from  one  end  to  the  other,  was  ordered  by  the 
Japanese  government,  we  may  well  marvel  at  the  pres¬ 
ent  advance  of  essentially  Christian  ideals  among  the 
people. 

One  famous  article  of  these  posters  reads  as  fol¬ 
lows  :  “So  long  as  the  sun  shall  continue  to  warm  the 
earth  let  no  Christian  he  so  hold  as  to  come  to  Japan, 
and  let  all  know  that  the  King  of  Spain  himself,  or  the 
Christian  s  God,  or  the  great  God  himself,  if  he  dare 
violate  this  command,  shall  pay  for  it  with  his  head.” 


95 


96  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 
1.  Opposition  to  Higher  Education  for  Women 

Up  to  the  time  when  Japan's  closed  doors  were 
opened  to  Christian  civilization  a  truly  Oriental  con¬ 
tempt  for  and  enslavement  of  women  characterized 
the  nation  at  large.  And  it  has  been  no  easy  thing  to 
open  the  Japanese  mind  to  the  conception  of  social  and 
intellectual  equality  of  women  with  men.  Hence,  ac¬ 
ceptance  of  a  demand  for  higher  education  of  Jap¬ 
anese  girls  has  won  its  way  somewhat  gradually.  Even 
today  there  are  deprecating  voices  raised  against  col¬ 
lege  work  for  women,  especially  when  anything  like  a 
fund  campaign  draws  special  attention  to  a  higher  in¬ 
stitution.  A  mission  school,  laying  its  early  founda¬ 
tions  for  woman’s  education,  was  warned :  “With  your 
English  work  you  are  merely  training  up  concubines 
for  unprincipled  foreigners  in  the  port  cities.  ”  “Your 
girls  walk  like  men,”  was  one  very  serious  criticism 
brought  against  pupils  of  one  pioneer  girls’  school. 
At  a  commencement  in  the  early  eighties  it  was  decided 
that  it  was  altogether  too  forward  for  a  student  to 
read  a  graduating  essay  facing  the  audience ;  to  read 
it  herself  was  almost  too  much ;  but  a  compromise  was 
found  in  her  reading  it  with  her  back  to  her  listeners. 

Those  days  are  long  since  flown.  The  still  relative¬ 
ly  early  marriage  age  is  now  the  main  hindrance  to  a 
capable  student’s  higher  course.  Many  more  enter 
than  graduate,  and  the  chief  reason  for  this  large  stu¬ 
dent  mortality — with  the  exception  of  ill  health — is 
that  even  a  very  successful  student  may  be  taken  out 
of  college  within  a  few  months  of  graduation  because 


THE  BUCKET  CEREMONY 
AT  KWASSUI  COLLEGE 

The  name  Kwassui  means  “Living 
Water,”  and  the  ceremony  on  Class 
Day  symbolizes  the  passing  on  of  the 
spiritual  “Living  Water”  from  the  out¬ 
going  senior  class  to  the  incoming  one. 
Holding  the  special  “Bucket,”  to  whose 
handle  are  tied  the  school  colors  and 
those  of  each  graduating  class  which 
has  participated  in  a  similar  occasion, 
the  representative  senior  makes  a 
speech,  charging  the  junior  class  to 
cherish  the  Kwassui  spirit — all  the 
high  ideals  of  womanhood  and  Chris¬ 
tianity  with  which  they  have  been  im¬ 
bued — to  keep  the  “water”  pure,  and 
to  give  to  all  their  sisters  to  drink  at 
every  opportunity.  Then  the  Senior 
passes  the  bucket  to  the  Junior,  who 
in  receiving  it,  replies  in  like  vein, 
promising  for  her  classmates  al  that 
has  been  required  of  them.  The 
“Bucket”  is  then  put  away  in  a  safe 
place  until  the  succeeding  com¬ 
mencement 


GROUP  OF  MARRIED  WOMEN  COLLEGE  STUDENTS 


Women's  Colleges  in  Japan  97 

just  the  right  match  has  been  found  for  her  and  her 
fiance’s  family  cannot  wait. 

“Do  your  college  graduates  really  find  husbands?” 
asked  a  reporter  at  a  dinner  given  to  newspaper  men 
by  a  Christian  college  on  a  publicity  campaign. 

“There  are  two  kinds  of  young  men  in  Japan  today,” 
replied  a  Japanese  Christian  professor.  “One  kind 
still  wants  the  former  style  of  child-wife  whom  he 
can  mould  to  his  own  tastes  and  will.  The  other  kind 
wants  a  wife  who  will  be  an  intellectual  companion. 
That  is  the  kind  who  tries  for  our  graduates.” 

Two  Normal  Schools 

The  Woman’s  Higher  Normal  School  in  which  both 
Baroness  Uryu  and  Miss  Tsuda  taught  in  those  early 
years  is  still  the  highest  type  of  educational  institution 
that  the  government  has  established  for  girls.  There 
are  two  of  these  schools,  the  older  one  in  Tokyo,  es¬ 
tablished  in  1874,  and  that  in  Nara,  started  in  1907. 
They  are  sometimes  called  “normal  colleges.”  From 
these  go  out  the  majority  of  women  teachers*  in  the 
girls’  high  schools  over  the  land.  The  regular  course 
is  four  years  above  the  four-year  high  school,  and 
trains  teachers  for  all  the  ordinary  branches  of  a  girls’ 
high  school.  Until  recently,  it  did  not  give  enough 
training  in  English  to  license  its  graduates  for  that 
branch;  but  it  is  a  sign  of  the  growing  demands  for 
that  language  that  in  1922  the  Department  of  Educa¬ 
tion  gave  to  the  Tokyo  Higher  Normal  School  its  first 


•There  are  over  3000  more  women  than  men. 


98  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

English  licenses,  for  graduates  of  a  special  English 
course. 

This  government  provision  for  one  type  of  women’s 
higher  education  has  been  of  inestimable  value  to 
woman’s  progress.  It  has  developed  her  powers  and 
helped  her  to  a  large  place  in  one  of  her  most  appro¬ 
priate  vocations.  But  it  has  been  left  to  private, 
mainly  Christian,  enterprise  to  pioneer  the  real  col¬ 
lege  work  for  Japan. 

2.  Five  Girl  Pioneers  of  i8yi 

It  was  a  great  and  new  thing  when  one  day  in  1871 
a  little  group  of  Japanese  girls  left  their  native  land  to 
get  an  education  in  America. 

Japan’s  school  system  had  not  yet  been  inaugurated, 
her  foreign  intercourse  was  still  young,  and  Christian¬ 
ity  was  still  a  forbidden  religion.  But  Count  Kuroda, 
minister  of  colonization  in  the  government  of  that  day, 
had  a  vision  that  educated  women  were  going  to  be 
needed  in  the  building  of  New  Japan;  and  with  his 
far-seeing  wisdom  five  promising  girls  of  good  connec¬ 
tions  were  selected  to  be  sent  abroad.  It  was  recog¬ 
nized  as  of  sufficient  moment  to  have  the  Empress  her¬ 
self  before  their  departure  grant  them  an  audience 
from  behind  a  screen,  whence  she  presented  them  with 
gifts  of  red  crepe  and  cakes.  They  were  given  minute 
instructions  as  to  the  principles  of  their  conduct  in 
America  and  were  under  contract  to  promote  the  cause 
of  women’s  education  on  their  return. 

The  five,  ranging  from  seven  to  fifteen  years  of  age, 


99 


Women's  Colleges  in  Japan 

were  taken  to  Washington  and  placed  in  charge  of  the 
Japanese  Legation.  They  knew  no  English  and  were 
for  a  while  quite  by  themselves,  cared  for  by  hired  at¬ 
tendants.  Those  first  months  were  indeed  a  homesick 
time.  One  for  health  and  one  for  family  reasons  re¬ 
turned  to  Japan  before  the  year  was  out,  and  one  of 
these  died  young.  The  three  others  found  resting- 
places  in  happy  homes  and  schools  in  Washington, 
New  York,  and  New  Haven.  They  remained  long 
enough  to  accomplish  the  purpose  of  their  going,  be¬ 
coming  Christians,  and  returning  to  give  rich  service  to 
their  countrywomen. 

Number  One  Marries  Prince  Oyama,  Japanese  Commander- 

in-Chief 

Sutematsu  Yamakawa,  who  was  eleven  years  of  age 
when  she  went  to  America,  graduated  with  laurels 
from  Vassar  College  in  1882  and  returned  to  Japan. 
Those  who  had  hoped  that  she  would  specialize  as  a 
leader  of  new  women  in  Japan  were  disappointed  when 
she  was  married  the  next  year  to  General  Oyama, 
later  Field  Marshal,  Commander-in-Chief  in  the  Rus¬ 
so-Japanese  War,  and  Prince  by  imperial  appointment. 
But  her  place  of  influence  in  one  of  the  leading  homes 
of  the  nation,  bringing  up  her  two  sons  and  four 
daughters ;  managing  the  family  property  with  unusual 
skill,  even  to  the  reform  of  certain  agricultural  lands 
that  greatly  increased  in  productivity  under  her 
method;  carrying  with  grace  the  heavy  social  respon¬ 
sibilities — sometimes  of  an  international  nature — that 
her  position  brought  her : — this  place  of  influence  could 


100  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

not  have  been  adequately  filled  by  one  of  lesser  capa¬ 
city  and  training.  She  died  in  1920  at  the  age  of 
sixty,  leaving  a  fragrant  memory  behind  her. 

Number  Two  Marries  Baron  Uryu,  Naval  Commander 

Shige  Nagai,  a  year  her  junior,  specialized  for  three 
years  at  Vassar,  in  modern  languages  and  music, 
graduated  from  its  music  course  in  1881,  and  returned 
to  Japan  a  year  sooner  than  Miss  Yamakawa.  At  once 
the  Department  of  Education  engaged  her  services  for 
the  promotion  of  musical  education.  For  fifteen  years 
before  and  after  her  marriage  she  taught  music  in  both 
the  Woman’s  Higher  Normal  School  and  Tokyo  Music 
School.  Her  husband,  Admiral  (later  Baron)  Uryu, 
is  a  graduate  of  Annapolis  and  as  commander  of  the 
Second  Squadron  in  the  Russian  War  achieved  a 
brilliant  success  at  Chemulpo.  Baroness  Uryu,  like 
Princess  Oyama,  fills  an  important  social  position ;  and 
with  this  she  combines  an  active  interest  in  educational 
affairs. 

Number  Three,  Ume  Tsuda,  Becomes  Famous  Educator 

The  third  and  youngest  of  the  group,  Ume  Tsuda, 
spent  eleven  years  at  school  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  in 
studying  English  literature  in  addition  to  high  school 
graduation,  and,  returning  to  Japan,  was  at  once  em¬ 
ployed  by  the  Imperial  Household  Department  in  the 
home  of  Prince  Ito  as  interpreter  to  his  wife.  When 
the  Peeresses’  School  for  the  daughters  of  the  nobil¬ 
ity  was  founded  in  1885,  she  was  engaged  as  teacher 
there,  and  in  1889,  while  keeping  her  position,  was  sent 
abroad  for  three  years  of  further  study,  this  time  at 


101 


Women's  Colleges  in  Japan 

Bryn  Mawr  College.  On  her  return  she  accepted  an 
additional  post  of  teacher  in  the  Woman's  Higher 
Normal  School.  A  later  vacation  trip  led  her  to  the 
Convention  of  the  International  Federation  of  Wom¬ 
en’s  Clubs  in  Denver,  and  then  to  England  for  the 
study  of  education  there.  In  1899  she  resigned  from  her 
teaching  positions  and  in  1900  founded  the  Eigaku- 
juku,  a  school  of  English  for  girls,  which  has  steadily 
prospered  and  is  one  of  the  strongest  educational  in¬ 
fluences  for  women  in  Japan.  In  1913  Miss  Tsuda 
was  delegate  to  the  World’s  Christian  Student  Federa¬ 
tion  Convention  in  America.  She  has  prepared  many 
books  for  the  use  of  students  of  English  and  through 
both  her  personal  Christian  character  and  her  teach¬ 
ing  and  administrative  ability  she  has  left  a  permanent 
imprint  for  good  upon  not  only  the  hundreds  of  stu¬ 
dents  who  have  passed  under  her  care,  but  upon  the 
whole  progress  of  woman’s  education  in  Japan.  She 
is  now  living  in  retirement  on  account  of  ill  health. 

The  fifth  of  these  pioneer  girls  was,  after  her  return 
to  Japan,  long  lost  to  the  knowledge  of  the  rest.  By 
an  interesting  accident  one  of  them  found  her  a  few 
years  ago,  living  in  obscurity  in  a  humble  part  of 
Tokyo.  After  her  discovery  the  group  held  a  memora¬ 
ble  reunion  discussing  their  early  and  later  experiences. 
But  whether  distinguished  or  obscure  in  her  career, 
each  of  these  pioneers  helped  to  blaze  the  way  for  the 
woman  of  New  Japan.  When  they  crossed  the  Pacific 
in  the  side-wheeler  with  the  Iwakura  Embassy  they 


102  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

were  crossing  a  bigger  barrier  than  a  mere  ocean  in 
going  out  for  a  higher  education. 

3.  Japanese  Colleges  Defined  and  Classified 

We  must  now  answer  the  mooted  question,  What  is 
a  “real  college  ?” — or  rather,  define  the  sense  in  which 
the  term  “college”  will  be  used  in  this  presentation  of 
colleges  in  Japan.  For  convenience  we  will  assume  that 
content  of  courses  and  methods  of  study  suit  the  ma¬ 
turity  of  the  student’s  age,  and  will  use  here  the  purely 
mechanical  standard  of  measurement  represented  by 
the  total  number  of  years  of  schooling  presupposed 
for  graduation. 

If  an  average  American  college  girl  has  taken  eight 
years  in  the  grammar  school,  and  four  in  the  high 
school,  she  graduates  from  college  at  twenty-two  after 
sixteen  years  of  formal  training.  A  Japanese  girl  has 
six  years  in  the  elementary  school,  four  or  five  (there 
are  many  schools  of  each  type)  in  the  girls’  high  school, 
and  three  or  two  in  the  higher  course  that  was  incorpo¬ 
rated  in  1920  in  the  national  education  system.  This 
higher  course,  completed  after  a  minimum  of  thirteen 
years  of  schooling,  marks  the  end  of  the  government 
provision  for  general  education.  The  natural  sequence 
will  be,  on  the  analogy  of  the  system  for  men,  a  three- 
year  daigaku,  “university,”  course,  for  more  special¬ 
ized  study.  As  this  grade  of  work  has  not  yet  been 
standardized  by  the  government,  private  institutions 
have  worked  out  their  own  courses  and  developed 
their  specialties  as  they  liked,  and  there  is  consequently 


103 


Women's  Colleges  in  Japan 

a  great  variety  in  their  requirements  and  offerings.  In 
this  chapter  we  will  designate  as  “junior  college”  those 
courses  above  the  girls'  high  school  that  are  completed 
after  thirteen  years  of  schooling;  as  “intermediate 
college”  those  that  require  fourteen;  and  “senior  col¬ 
lege”  those  that  require  fifteen  or  sixteen.  This  classi¬ 
fication  does  not  prevent  some  overlapping,  but  is  the 
most  practicable  for  our  present  purposes.  The  ac¬ 
companying  chart  will  show  relations  of  courses.  The 
Japanese  term  daigaku,  generally  translated  “univer¬ 
sity,”  indicates  grade  of  courses  rather  than  number 
of  departments,  and  for  undergraduate  work  is  of  the 
grade  here  referred  to  as  sixteen-year  senior  college.* 
Two  further  facts  should  be  borne  in  mind  with 
reference  to  the  Japanese  colleges  as  compared  with 
American.  The  first  is  that  the  teaching  in  the 
secondary  schools  is  largely  on  the  lecture  or  exposi¬ 
tion  principle,  giving  the  students  predigested  material 
to  absorb,  rather  than  having  them  dig  out  material 
themselves  from  their  textbooks;  hence  there  is  less 
development  of  the  student’s  own  thinking  power. 


•It  may  be  noted  here  that  there  are  no  educational  institutions  in 
Japan  having  American  charters  and  granting  American  degrees. 
The  degrees  conferred  in  Japan  are  all  under  the  authorization  of  the 
government’s  Department  of  Education.  The  only  woman’s  insti¬ 
tutions  in  Japan  that  give  degrees  are  the  Woman’s  Medical  College 
and  the  Meikwa  Dental  College. 


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Shows  the  longest  course  of  study;  has  shorter  courses. 


106  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

Second,  the  study  of  Chinese  ideographs,  fascinating 
in  itself  and  no  mean  quickener  of  brain  power,  is 
a  serious  handicap  in  the  acquisition  of  information ; 
so  much  time  has  to  be  spent  in  mastering  the  tools  of 
knowledge  that  its  content  must  suffer.  It  is  estimated 
that  the  Japanese  student  loses  about  two  years  of  sub¬ 
ject  matter  from  this  handicap,  as  compared  with  stu¬ 
dents  of  the  West.  However,  the  student  who  is  intel¬ 
lectually  keen  conquers  her  handicap,  digs  for  her  own 
material,  and  forges  ahead;  and  there  are  women  stu¬ 
dents  and  graduates  in  Japan  who  compare  favorably 
both  in  native  ability  and  actual  acquisition  with  honor 
students  anywhere. 

4.  Seven  N on-government  College-grade  Schools  for 
Girls 

These  are,  Kwassui  Girls’  School  (with  college  de¬ 
partment)  in  Nagasaki;  Joshi  Gakuin  in  Tokyo;  Kobe 
College;  the  Japan  Women’s  University  in  Tokyo;  the 
English  College  in  Tokyo;  Doshisha  (affiliated  with 
University)  in  Kyoto;  the  Woman’s  Union  Christian 
College  in  Tokyo. 

There  are  now  in  Japan  seven  institutions — non¬ 
government,  recognized  by  the  Department  of  Edu¬ 
cation  as  semmonko,  or  high-grade  schools — that  offer 
intermediate  or  senior  college  work  for  women.  Look¬ 
ing  at  them  in  chronological  order,  we  start  at  the 
southwestern  end  of  the  main  Empire,  where  in  Naga¬ 
saki  the  first  college  work  for  women  in  Japan  was 
done.  Kwassui  Girls’  School,  a  Methodist  Episcopal 


Women's  Colleges  in  Japan  107 

institution,  graduated  its  first  college  class  of  two  in 
1889.  Kwassui  had  started,  like  most  mission  schools, 
from  very  small  beginnings.  Miss  Elizabeth  Russell, 
who  had  just  come  to  Japan  in  1879,  announced  that 
she  would  open  a  school  for  girls  on  December  first. 
Her  associate,  Miss  Gheer,  asked  her  how  she  was 
going  to  open  school  if  she  had  no  pupils.  Miss  Rus¬ 
sell  said,  “I  don’t  know,  but  I’m  going  to  open  any¬ 
way.”  Her  faith  was  rewarded  by  the  appearance  of 
one  student  on  the  appointed  date,  and  Kwassui  Jo 
Gakko  (as  it  is  called  in  Japan)  was  begun.  Miss 
Russell  had  the  satisfaction  of  working  forty  years  in 
the  school,  and  of  seeing  its  graduates  in  widening 
circles  of  influence  throughout  Japan.  Her  own 
service  was  recognized  by  a  government  decoration.* 

Kwassui 

The  purpose  of  Kwassui,  when  it  had  worked  up  to 
a  college  department,  was  to  give  girls  a  course  not 
merely  equivalent  to,  but  as  far  as  possible  identical 
with,  that  of  an  American  college ;  Kwassui  girls  stud¬ 
ied  Latin  and  Greek  besides  their  English  and  Chi- 


*Several  Americans  or  Canadians  connected  with  woman’s  educa¬ 
tion  in  Japan  have  been  thus  recognized.  No  complete  list  is  avail¬ 
able,  but  the  following  are  included:  Rev.  E.  S.  Booth  of  Ferris  Sem¬ 
inary;  Miss  J.  N.  Crosby  of  the  Woman’s  Union  Missionary  Society 
Girls’  School,  Yokohama;  Miss  Anna  C.  Hartshorne  of  Miss  Tsuda’s 
Girls’  English  College.  The  medal  of  the  Imperial  Education  Society 
has  been  bestowed  on  Miss  Nannie  B.  Gaines  of  the  Hiroshima  Girls’ 
School.  Miss  E.  P.  Milliken  of  Joshi  Gakuin  and  Miss  I.  S.  Blackmore 
of  Toyo  Eiwa  Jo  Gakko  were  recipients  of  handsome  certificates,  pre¬ 
sented  in  1920  by  Tokyo  City  with  an  expression  of  appreciation  to 
all  teachers  in  the  city  that  had  taught  continuously  in  the  same  school 
for  thirty  years  or  more.  Such  facts  as  these  are  mentioned  in  this 
book  to  show  the  official  appreciation  with  which  certain  forms  of 
missionary  work  have  met  in  Japan;  also  because  these  decorations 
have  given  publicity  and  prestige  in  the  eyes  of  the  people  for  whom 
the  work  has  been  done  and  have  thus  been  of  distinct  aid  in  carrying 


108  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

nese.  It  was  a  senior  college,  requiring  sixteen  years 
for  graduation,  and  there  was  nothing  else  like  it  in 
Japan.  Naturally  the  demand  for  that  type  of  higher 
education  was  small  and  the  college  classes  were  al¬ 
ways  very  select.  Graduates  have  averaged  two  a 
year.  In  recent  years  the  old  ideal  has  been  changed, 
and  a  course  more  practically  adapted  to  the  needs  of 
Japanese  girls  has  been  established.  The  college  de¬ 
partment  has  been  reorganized  to  make  it  fit  after  the 
government  secondary  schools,  and  is  now  of  inter¬ 
mediate  grade,  requiring  fourteen  years  for  comple¬ 
tion.  Its  main  emphases  are  English  and  Domestic 
Science.  For  many  years  Kwassui  was  the  only 
school  in  the  large  island  of  Kyushu  that  offered 
higher  work  to  girls.  The  Southern  Baptist  Mission 
opened  in  1922  a  school  at  Kokura  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  island;  and  a  government  junior  college  has 
now  been  licensed  for  Fukuoka.  Kwassui  in  populari¬ 
zing  her  college  course  is  putting  herself  in  position  to 
meet  with  an  effective  Christian  training  the  growing 
demand  for  higher  opportunities  for  girl  students. 
Her  1922  college  enrolment  is  forty-nine,  of  whom 
more  than  one-half  are  Christians. 

It  is  a  temptation,  in  writing  of  Kwassui,  to  tell  the 
story  of  its  wide  and  varied  work  in  other  depart¬ 
ments,  such  as  Bible  training,  music,  normal  and  kin¬ 
dergarten  training,  through  which  it  has  made  such 
contributions  to  the  Christian  cause.  But,  as  this  is  an 
honor  that  Kwassui  shares  with  a  number  of  other 
schools,  and  as  we  are  dealing  now  with  college  work, 


109 


Women's  Colleges  in  Japan 

we  must  restrict  our  glance  to  Kwassui’s  distinctive 
contribution  along  that  line.  Of  her  sixty-seven  col¬ 
lege  alumnae,  all  Christians,  fifty-eight  have  taught  in 
Christian  schools  and  twenty-six  in  government 
schools,  some  as  far  afield  as  Korea  and  Shanghai.  A 
few  of  Kwassui’s  graduates  have  gone  directly  from 
the  college  into  evangelistic  work  and  have  proved 
themselves  well  equipped  and  adapted  for  that  work. 
One  has  labored  successfully  for  years  among  the 
Japanese  on  the  Pacific  Coast  of  the  United  States. 
Several  have  done  notably  good  work  in  music,  taking 
advanced  training  in  America  or  Europe. 

About  the  same  time  as  Kwassui  in  Nagasaki,  two 
Tokyo  schools  were  starting  college  departments  of 
intermediate  grade:  Joshi  Gakuin  (Presbyterian)  and 
Toyo  Eiwa  Jo  Gakko  (Canadian  Methodist),  which 
graduated  each  a  class  of  six  in  1890  and  1891,  res¬ 
pectively.  These  were  later  given  up  in  order  to  help 
form  the  union  college  in  1918. 

Kobe  College 

Of  the  institutions  now  carrying  college  depart¬ 
ments,  the  next  is  Kobe  College,  which  graduated  its 
first  college  class  in  1892.  Kobe  College  began  in  1875 
as  a  home  school  for  girls,  growing  out  of  classes  in 
Bible,  sewing,  and  singing  that  had  been  started  two 
years  earlier  by  the  same  missionaries,  Miss  Eliza  Tal- 
cott  and  Miss  Julia  E.  Dudley  of  the  American  Board 
Mission  (Congregational).  It  began  with  five  board¬ 
ers  and  a  handful  of  day  scholars.  It  is  said  that  even 
a  small  boy  or  two  were  in  that  early  miscellaneous 


110  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

group.  Like  other  pioneer  mission  schools,  it  carried 
elementary  work,  which  it  sloughed  off  as  the  higher 
work  developed.  When  it  had  graduated  its  first  col¬ 
lege  class,  representing  sixteen  years  of  work,  it 
changed  its  name  from  Kobe  Eiwa  Jo  Gakko  to  Kobe 
Jo  Gakuin  and  assumed  the  English  name  “Kobe  Col¬ 
lege.”  Some  years  later,  in  adjusting  its  curriculum 
to  connect  with  government  schools,  its  course  was 
lowered  one  year,  but  has  been  since  restored  to  the 
full  senior  college  basis.  It  is  the  only  woman’s  in¬ 
stitution  outside  of  Tokyo  that  has  government  per¬ 
mission  to  use  the  term  daigaku  for  its  highest  depart¬ 
ment  and  the  only  mission  girls’  school  that  has  been 
honored  by  visits  of  representatives  of  both  the  Em¬ 
peror  and  the  Empress.  Its  “sister  college”  in  Amer¬ 
ica  is  Rockford  College,  Rockford,  Ill.,  of  which  in  its 
seminary  days  Miss  Dudley,  joint  founder  of  Kobe 
College,  was  an  alumna.  Kobe  College,  like  Kwassui, 
has  been  fortunate  in  having  long-continued  service 
from  one  strong,  devoted  personality.  Miss  Susan  A. 
Searle,  L.  H.  D.,  an  alumna  of  Wellesley  College,  com¬ 
pletes  in  1923  forty  years  of  activity  for  the  college, 
during  twenty-three  of  which  she  was  in  charge. 

Its  1922  enrolment  for  junior  and  senior  colleges  is 
175,  of  which  39%  are  baptized  Christians.  Of  its  91 
college  graduates,  all  Christians,  eight  are  wives  of 
pastors  or  Christian  workers,  two  are  themselves  pro¬ 
fessional  Christian  workers,  fifty-two  have  been  teach¬ 
ers,  many  of  them  in  mission  schools;  the  majority  are 
married  to  business  men  or  professional  men,  some  of 


Ill 


Women's  Colleges  in  Japan 

them  living  abroad.  The  recent  rapid  growth  of  the 
college  department  has  proved  the  inadequacy  of  the 
present  city  site  for  future  dormitory  needs  and  in 
1921  it  was  decided  to  plan  for  the  removal  of  the 
college  and  music  departments  to  a  country  location. 
With  the  loyal  cooperation  of  the  Alumnae  Associa¬ 
tion,  that  shouldered  the  burden  of  raising  $100,000 
for  the  new  campus,  land  was  bought  at  Akashi, 
twelve  miles  away,  and  plans  for  removing  thither 
within  the  next  five  years  are  under  way.  The  historic 
site  of  the  college  will  be  kept  for  the  use  of  the  affili¬ 
ated  lower  school.  The  academic  emphasis  of  Kobe 
College  is  for  one  course  general  culture;  for  the 
other,  English  teacher  training. 

The  year  1900  saw  the  beginning  in  Tokyo  of  two  of 
the  most  influential  women’s  institutions  in  Japan. 
Both  were  founded  and  conducted  by  Japanese,  with 
the  backing  of  influential  Japanese,  and  each  has  a 
constituency  which  no  foreign  mission  school  can 
equal.  One  is  the  Japan  Women’s  University,  the 
other  is  Miss  Tsuda’s  English  College. 

Women’s  University  Founded  by  Naruse 

The  Japan  Women’s  University  was  the  fruit  of 
years  of  devoted  endeavor  on  the  part  of  a  Christian, 
Mr.  Jinzo  Naruse.  As  a  youth  he  had  had  his  first 
great  impulse  toward  woman’s  education  while  spend¬ 
ing  a  night  in  a  hotel  noisy  with  sake  and  the  dancing 
and  singing  of  geisha.  He  said  to  himself,  “Such  de¬ 
bauchery  must  be  the  result  of  women’s  ignorance  and 
inefficiency.  While  women  are  contented  to  lend  them- 


112  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

selves  to  such  usages  as  this,  how  can  this  nation  be¬ 
come  great  and  this  people  happy  ?”*  Thus  with  the 
conviction  that  woman’s  influence  is  at  the  heart  of 
national  progress,  Mr.  Naruse,  though  at  first  engaged 
in  direct  Christian  evangelism,  put  much  time  and 
strength  into  girls’  schools,  founding  both  the  Baikwa 
Girls’  School  in  Osaka  and  a  similar  school  in  Niigata, 
and  serving  at  each  for  a  time  as  principal.  Three 
years  of  study  of  women’s  colleges  in  the  United 
States  and  the  publication  of  a  book  on  woman’s  edu¬ 
cation  were  the  next  steps  to  a  definite  personal  cam¬ 
paign  for  a  woman’s  university  in  Japan.  He  secured 
by  indefatigable  efforts  the  interest  and  support  of 
prominent  social  and  political  leaders,  and  an  executive 
committee  of  promoters  was  organized  in  1896,  with 
Prince  Konoe  as  chairman,  and  Barons  Shibusawa  and 
Sumitomo  as  treasurers.  The  labors  of  the  next  few 
years  materialized  in  the  opening  of  the  University,  in 
April,  1900,  with  185  students  in  the  regular  courses, 
37  in  the  English  Preparatory  Courses,  and  288  in  the 
affiliated  high  school  for  girls.  It  later  attached  also 
an  elementary  school  and  a  kindergarten.  The  highest 
department  has,  however,  always  been  the  main  part. 
President  Naruse  labored  nineteen  years  after  its 
founding  and  saw  the  rich  results  of  his  years  of  con¬ 
secration.  Since  his  death,  his  place  has  been  taken 
by  Mr.  Shozo  Aso,  a  Doshisha  man  who  had  been  as¬ 
sociated  with  Mr.  Naruse  from  the  beginning  of  the 


*From  the  historical  pamphlet  issued  by  the  University. 


DOSHISHA  GIRLS’  COLLEGE  Y.  W.  C.  A 


' ,  ' 


Women's  Colleges  in  Japan  113 

enterprise,  and  even  earlier  in  the  days  of  the  Niigata 
school. 

The  Japan  Women’s  University  is  of  fourteen  or 
fifteen-year  grade,  conducts  now  two  literary  depart¬ 
ments,  Japanese  and  English,  and  a  practical  science 
department,  with  branches  in  domestic  science  and 
social  service.  The  present  enrolment  is  1138,  nearly 
700  of  whom  are  in  the  domestic  science  courses.  The 
normal  section  of  the  domestic  science  branch,  which 
is  very  well  equipped,  has  the  teachers’  license  privi¬ 
lege  and  is  much  sought  after.  Nearly  three-fourths 
of  the  2237  graduates  of  the  university  have  been  from 
the  domestic  science  department.  The  social  service 
department,  recently  established,  has  yet  no  graduates. 
Other  departments  are  in  the  ultimate  plan  of  the  uni¬ 
versity,  and  will  be  developed  as  circumstances  permit. 
In  contrast  to  government  school  methods,  it  has  from 
the  beginning  stressed  self-activity  and  initiative,  de¬ 
veloping  many  extra-curricular  features.  The  plans 
for  the  year’s  “self-training”  in  intellectual,  social, 
spiritual,  and  practical  ways  are  drawn  up  by  the  sen¬ 
ior  class  at  the  beginning  of  each  year,  and  the  execu¬ 
tion  of  these  plans  is  distributed  among  the  student 
body. 

Open  to  All  Religions 

As  this  is  a  strictly  non-sectarian  institution,  reli¬ 
gious  teachers  as  such  are  not  asked  to  address 
the  students,  though  as  specialists  they  may  be  invited 
to  lecture  on  assigned  subjects,  such  as  Buddhism  or 
Christianity.  No  religious  meetings  are  held  by  the 


114  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

University,  but  students  are  free  to  attend  Christian 
or  Buddhist  services  in  the  city.  The  emphasis  in  the 
teaching  of  practical  ethics,  which  is  done  by  the  presi¬ 
dent  himself,  is  on  the  fact  of  one  Absolute  Being  with 
whom  man  must  connect  himself  in  order  to  fill  his 
life  with  meaning  and  with  power.  Features  for  the 

developing  of  the  religious  instinct  are  meetings  for 

* 

meditation  and  exchange  of  thought,  led  by  students, 
and  personal  interviews  with  group  “leaders,”  as  teach¬ 
ers  are  called  to  whom  a  student  group  of  fifteen  or 
more  has  been  assigned  for  moral  and  spiritual  help¬ 
fulness.  These  “leaders”  are  generally  alumnae  of  the 
institution  and  help  to  perpetuate  its  spirit.  Special 
summer  conferences  for  seniors,  in  two  relays,  are 
held  at  the  University  villa  in  Karuizawa,  with  the 
purpose  of  three  weeks  of  meditation,  self-examina¬ 
tion,  repentance,  and  purification.  The  leaders  are 
from  the  University  staff. 

The  religious  status  of  the  student  body,  as  shown 
in  the  statistics  which  President  Aso  has  furnished  for 
this  survey,  is  as  follows:  35.8%  claim  a  religious 
faith  apart  from  any  established  religion;  29%  (large¬ 
ly  from  the  younger  classes),  though  not  disclaiming 
faith,  have  not  yet  determined  what  their  faith  is ; 
21.1%  are  Christian,  12.8%  Buddhist,  and  1.3% 
Shinto.  The  results  of  training  in  initiative  and  activ¬ 
ity  are  apparent  in  the  Ofukwai,  or  “Cherry-Maple 
Association,”  into  which  the  Alumnae  have  organized 
themselves.*  The  conduct  of  stores  for  the  sale  of 

•“The  name  was  chosen  to  express  the  ideal  that  they  would  nourish 
virtues  as  beautiful  as  cherry-blossoms  and  maple  leaves,  devoted  to 
the  service  of  society  and  the  nation.” 


115 


Women's  Colleges  in  Japan 

necessities  to  students,  of  a  bank  for  students,  the  pub¬ 
lication  of  the  “Home  Weekly”  and  occasional  pamph¬ 
lets  for  the  promotion  of  progress  and  reforms  among 
intelligent  women,  the  maintenance  and  conduct  of  a 
night-school  for  servant  girls,  and  of  two  successful 
day-nurseries  for  the  poor,  and  the  raising  of  a  large 
endowment  fund  for  the  University,  are  but  a  part  of 
the  functions  of  this  organization,  which  is  recognized 
as  one  of  the  most  active  and  efficient  women’s  organi¬ 
zations  in  Japan  today.  The  influence  of  the  University 
in  Japan  is  far-reaching  and  increasing. 

A  graduate  of  the  Japan  Women’s  University, 
Tsuruko  Haraguchi,  was  the  first  Japanese  woman  to 
receive  a  Ph.  D.  degree  (Columbia  University).  Her 
early  death  was  much  regretted. 

Miss  Tsuda’s  Institution 

Miss  Tsuda’s  Girls’  English  School  started  six 
months  later  than  the  Japan  Women’s  University,  in 
September,  1900.  Of  its  founder  we  have  already 
heard.  Her  purpose  was  “to  give  Japanese  women 
higher  education  under  the  influences  of  a  Christian 
home” ;  its  grade  is  of  an  intermediate  college,  and  its 
academic  emphasis  is  on  English,  for  which  its  gradu¬ 
ates  may  secure  much-coveted  teachers’  certificates 
from  the  Department  of  Education.  The  college  has 
the  distinction  of  being  the  only  non-government  in¬ 
stitution  for  women  that  has  this  privilege  of  certifica¬ 
tion  for  English  without  examination.  It  started  with 
seven  students,  in  a  small  rented  house,  “without 


116  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

equipment,  financial  or  otherwise,  except  the  indomit¬ 
able  will  of  its  founder,  in  order  to  give  Japanese 
women  something,  at  least,  of  what  she  herself  had 
found  in  college  work  abroad.” 

With  the  aid  of  a  committee  of  her  friends  in  Amer¬ 
ica,  and  in  Japan  of  Miss  Alice  M.  Bacon  and  Jap¬ 
anese  professors  who  gave  their  services  to  this  new 
undertaking,  the  plan  was  successfully  launched.  In 
1903  came  Miss  Anna  C.  Hartshorne,  who  has  ever 
since  been  Miss  Tsuda's  right  hand  in  the  furtherance 
of  the  enterprise.  The  college  is  equipped  for  three 
hundred  students  and  is  running  over.  From  the  be¬ 
ginning  it  took  only  high  school  graduates,  and  was 
thus  the  first  to  start  without  a  lower  department.  Of 
its  317  graduates  (1921  statistics),  130  are  teaching, 
16  are  doing  further  study,  128  are  married  and  not 
otherwise  employed.  Many  are  wives  of  men  in  im¬ 
portant  positions  abroad,  where  English  training 
stands  them  in  good  stead.  The  strong  Christian  in¬ 
fluence  of  the  college  is  shown  in  the  fact  that  more 
than  half  of  its  graduates  are  baptized  Christians; 
more  than  half  of  the  students  are  in  voluntary  Bible 
classes,  some  conducted  by  its  active  Y.  W.  C.  A., 
while  the  number  of  Christian  students  averages  one 
in  six.  The  alumnae  are  now  working  for  an  endow¬ 
ment  fund  of  $400,000,  in  order  to  provide  equipment 
and  income  sufficient  for  government  recognition  as  a 
daigaku.  The  American  institution  that  has  had  es¬ 
pecially  friendly  relations  with  Miss  Tsuda’s  school  is 
Bryn  Mawr  College,  where  she  studied. 


GYMNASIUM  CLASS  IN  TOKYO  WOMAN’S  COLLEGE-ANNUAL  FIELD  DAY 


117 


Women's  Colleges  in  Japan 

About  the  same  time  that  these  institutions  started, 
or  following  on  the  new  impulse  that  the  new  century 
was  bringing  to  woman's  education,  several  mission 
schools  in  Tokyo  and  Yokohama — Ferris  Seminary, 
the  Friends’  School,  Aoyama  Jo  Gakuin  (Methodist 
Episcopal),  Soshin  Jo  Gakko  (Mary  Colby  School) — 
started  higher  departments  of  similar  grade.  Most  of 
these  continued  until  the  establishment  of  the  union 
college. 

Doshisha  Girls’  College 

The  next  to  be  developed  of  the  present  colleges  was 
the  higher  department  of  Doshisha  Girls’  School. 
Doshisha  University  started  in  1875  as  a  mission 
school  for  boys  (Congregational),  founded  by  Joseph 
Hardy  Neesima*  in  the  great  Buddhist  stronghold  of 
Kyoto.  The  affiliated  girls’  school  started  in  1877,  and 
shared  the  vicissitudes  of  its  brother  institution.  Sur¬ 
viving  opposition  and  prejudice  from  without  and  a 
split  with  the  mission  from  within  (during  the  nation¬ 
alistic  reaction  of  the  ’90’s),  Doshisha  has  become  a 
full-fledged  Japanese  university  under  a  body  of  trus¬ 
tees  that  include  representatives  of  the  American 
Board  Mission,  with  which  it  has  now  for  over  twenty 
years  loyally  cooperated.  The  girls’  college  (of  junior 
grade  for  domestic  science,  of  intermediate  for  Eng¬ 
lish)  was  formally  established  in  1912,  when  the  boys’ 
department  gained  the  university  name.  It  has  an 
enrolment  of  285  students,  of  whom  34.7%  are  bap¬ 
tized  Christians.  It  is  under  the  headship  of  Miss 


*See  Hardy’s  Life  of  Neesima  for  details  of  this  inspiring  enterprise. 


118  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

Michi  Matsuda  (Bryn  Mawr  and  Columbia)  and 
President  Dan  jo  Ebina.  In  sympathetic  cooperation 
the  Japanese  faculty  and  the  missionary  teachers,  not¬ 
ably  Miss  M.  F.  Denton,  connected  with  the  institu¬ 
tion  since  1888,  have  made  the  school  a-  strong  Chris¬ 
tian  power  in  all  West  Central  Japan. 

Neesima’s  Foundation  Co-educational 

Doshisha  has  the  distinction  of  being  the  first  pri¬ 
vate  university  in  Japan  to  have  government  permis¬ 
sion  for  full  co-education  in  its  university  department. 
This  was  granted  in  1922,  but  for  Doshisha’s  own  con¬ 
venience  will  not  be  put  into  operation  until  1923.  The 
Department  of  Education  pursues  the  policy  of  per¬ 
mitting  co-education  to  any  higher  institution  of  good 
repute  that  asks  for  it.  The  Tokyo  Music  School  has 
long  had  it.  The  only  university  before  Doshisha  that 
was  constitutionally  empowered  to  conduct  full  co¬ 
education  was  the  Tohoku  (government)  University 
in  Sendai,  that  in  1913  admitted  four  women  to  its 
full  course,  three  of  whom  graduated  with  a  degree. 
Since  then  there  have  been  no  women  students  there, 
because  the  number  of  women  desirous  of  its  specialty 
(science)  is  relatively  small,  and  because  there  are 
enough  men  applicants  to  make  competition  for  admis¬ 
sion  severe. 

In  1920  the  Tokyo  Imperial  University  admitted 
women  as  listeners  in  some  lecture  courses,  and  other 
universities  have  followed  this  government  example. 
But  it  is  not  without  significance  that  a  Christian  insti¬ 
tution  should  be  among  the  first  to  make  a  thorough- 


119 


Women's  Colleges  in  Japan 

going  experiment  in  this  line.  After  graduating  from 
the  English  course  of  the  girls'  college,  a  Doshisha 
student  may  be  admitted  to  the  English  Literature 
course  of  the  university  and  graduate  from  it  with 
the  same  degree  and  the  same  teachers'  license  as  her 
brother.  It  takes  her,  to  be  sure,  one  year  longer 
to  prepare  for  entrance  to  the  university  than  he  re¬ 
quires,  but  before  co-education  in  the  higher  schools 
can  become  at  all  general  (and  there,  in  the  opinion 
of  Japanese  educators,  is  the  place  to  begin,  as  young 
people  in  the  secondary  schools  have  not  yet  the  home 
and  personal  background  for  free  social  intercourse), 
the  girls’  high  school  curriculum  will  have  to  be  re¬ 
vised,  and  sewing  and  some  other  subjects  give  place 
to  more  mathematics,  language,  and  science,  to  prepare 
girls  for  the  same  grade  of  work  as  boys. 

Woman’s  Union  Christian  College 
At  last  in  1918  the  Woman’s  Christian  College  of 
Japan  was  founded  in  Tokyo.  It  was  the  fruit  of  years 
of  work  and  prayer.  It  had  been  felt  that,  though  some 
half  dozen  mission  schools  in  Tokyo  and  Yokohama 
had  developed  higher  departments,  in  union  there 
would  be  a  strength  that  no  single  institution  could 
gain;  that  there  could  be  an  equipment  secured  and  a 
faculty  maintained  that  would  command  the  respect  of 
the  educational  world  and  thus  preserve  to  the  cause  of 
Christian  education  the  results  of  the  years  of  founda¬ 
tion  building  in  the  lower  mission  schools;  that  the 
raising  of  Christian  leaders  among  Japan’s  woman¬ 
hood  now  demanded  a  higher  and  more  efficient  organ 


120  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

than  had  yet  been  provided.  The  visit  of  Dr.  John  F. 
Goucher  to  Japan  in  1911,  representing  the  educational 
section  of  the  Continuation  Committee  of  the  Edin¬ 
burgh  Conference,  resulted  in  the  appointment  of  a 
preliminary  committee  on  a  union  woman’s  college. 
The  committee  was  promptly  taken  over  by  the  Wo¬ 
man’s  National  Christian  Educational  Association,  and 
two  years  later  was  reconstructed  as  a  definite  pro¬ 
moting  committee. 

Six  Mission  Boards  Unite 

In  time,  six  missions — Baptist,  Christian,  Canadian 
Methodist,  Methodist  Episcopal,  Presbyterian  and  Re¬ 
formed  Church  of  America — agreed  to  unite,  and  in 
January,  1917,  their  representatives  for  a  board  of 
trustees  met  to  organize.  The  trustees  worked  hard, 
for  in  fifteen  months  they  had  secured  Japanese  leader¬ 
ship  second  to  none,  the  lease  of  an  old  Presbyterian 
sanitarium  on  two  acres  of  land,  a  legal  incorporation 
for  holding  property,  and  the  $50,000  in  cash  required 
for  the  initial  endowment  in  order  that  the  government 
authorities  might  recognize  it  as  having  sufficient  back¬ 
ing  to  deserve  a  license  as  an  educational  institution. 
The  newly  appointed  officers  of  the  institution  worked 
out  details  of  curriculum  and  organization,  and,  when 
the  long-waited  government  permission  arrived,  near 
the  end  of  March,  1918,  they  were  ready  to  hold 
entrance  examinations  and  open  the  college  in  April, 
with  an  enthusiastic  student  body  of  84  and  a  royal 
welcome  from  the  educational  world. 

The  personnel  of  the  college  staff  is  headed  by  Dr, 


121 


Women's  Colleges  in  Japan 

Inazo  Nitobe  as  president.  A  distinguished  Christian 
scholar  and  author,  graduate  of  the  Sapporo  Agricul¬ 
tural  College  and  student  at  Johns  Hopkins  and  at 
Bonn,  Halle,  and  Berlin,  later  first  Japan-American 
exchange  professor  in  1911,  he  consented  to  add  to  his 
duties  as  professor  at  the  Tokyo  Imperial  University 
the  formal  presidency  of  the  new  college ;  his  office  is 
now  held  in  absentia,  since  his  appointment  as  perman¬ 
ent  secretary  of  the  League  of  Nations  necessitates  his 
residence  in  Geneva.  Mrs.  Nitobe,  an  American  by 
birth,  doubtless  continues  to  make  her  home  in  Geneva, 
as  it  was  in  Tokyo,  an  international  center  of  rare 
beauty  and  influence. 

Eminent  Educator  at  the  Helm 
Miss  Tetsu  Yasui,  the  distinguished  Christian  edu¬ 
cator  who  is  practically  at  the  helm  of  the  college,  was 
born  in  Tokyo  in  1870,  and  graduated  from  its  Higher 
Normal  School.  After  some  years  of  teaching  in  its 
attached  high  school  and  in  a  girls’  normal  school  in 
the  north,  she  was  sent  to  England  by  the  department 
of  education  to  specialize  in  pedagogy  and  domestic 
science.  She  spent  three  years  at  Cambridge,  and  then 
four  teaching  at  the  Higher  Normal  School.  A  unique 
feature  in  her  career  was  next  a  summons  from  the 
king  of  Siam  to  teach  the  royal  princesses  and  in  gen¬ 
eral  further  the  cause  of  woman’s  education  in  that 
land.  After  three  years  of  such  service,  she  was  again 
at  the  Higher  Normal  School  when  the  call  came  to  the 
Christian  College.  She  has  brought  to  it  a  wealth  of 


122  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

character,  experience,  and  ability  that  have  command¬ 
ed  the  confidence  not  only  of  faculty  and  students,  but 
of  a  wide  Japanese  and  foreign  constituency. 

Since  that  opening  day,  the  college  has  steadily  pro¬ 
gressed.  Its  material  encouragements  have  been  the 
gift  of  a  building  from  the  Imperial  Household  De¬ 
partment,  which  was  brought  from  its  former  site  and 
re-erected  to  supply  eleven  new  classrooms  and  a  lec¬ 
ture  hall,  the  purchase  of  a  large  permanent  site  of 
twenty-four  acres  in  the  suburbs  of  Tokyo,  of  high 
land  with  a  beautiful  view  of  Fuji,  the  Peerless  Moun¬ 
tain,  adoption  as  sister  college  by  Vassar  College,  with 
generous  contributions  from  its  student  body  to  the 
work  of  the  Japan  college ;  the  success  of  the  campaign 
in  America  for  the  Women’s  Union  Colleges  of  the 
Orient,  of  which  it  is  one;  and  liberal  gifts  in  Japan 
secured  through  an  influential  committee  of  support¬ 
ers.  The  names  deserving  special  mention  in  the  finan¬ 
cial  promotion  from  the  Japan  side  are:  Dr.  A.  K. 
Reischauer  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission,  who  as  execu¬ 
tive  secretary  from  the  start  has  given  most  devoted 
service  to  the  college  in  addition  to  heavy  tasks  else¬ 
where;  and  Mr.  Hampei  Nagao,  vice-president  of  the 
college,  who  adds  to  his  responsible  work  as  a  director 
of  the  Imperial  Government  Railways  unflagging  ac¬ 
tivity  for  Christian  enterprises. 

Great  Spiritual  Reward 

The  student  body  for  1922  numbers  205.  About 
one-half  are  Christians,  and  nearly  half  are  from  mis- 


123 


Women's  Colleges  in  Japan 

sion  schools.  Its  course  is  divided  into  a  three-year 
junior  college,  requiring  in  most  cases  fourteen  years 
of  schooling,*  and  a  two-year  senior  college  with  two 
departments,  one  for  literature,  one  for  social  science. 
It  provides  also  a  parallel  special  English  course  of 
four  years.  Its  first  classes  graduated  in  March,  1922, 
thirty-three  in  all.  Most  of  the  nine  from  the  junior 
college  remained  for  the  senior  work.  Of  those  from 
the  longer  course,  fifteen  are  teaching,  eight  helping 
in  social  work,  four  doing  secretarial  work.  Others 
are  doing  further  study  or  traveling  abroad.  The  class 
has  undertaken  as  the  first  alumnae  enterprise,  to  raise 
five  thousand  yen  to  furnish  students’  rooms  in  the 
dormitories  of  the  new  plant.  These  alumnae  have  a 
strong  group  of  spiritual  predecessors  in  the  alumnae 
bodies  of  the  higher  departments  that  were  given  up 
to  unite  in  the  union  college.  The  hundreds  of  strong 
Christian  women* scattered  throughout  the  empire  who 
base  their  present  power  and  usefulness  on  their  high¬ 
er  training  received  in  those  schools  are  to  the  college 
and  its  supporters  their  encouragement  to  effort  and 
their  promise  of  reward.  If  single-handed  local  efforts 
have  brought  such  results  in  the  past,  what  wealth  of 
worthy  womanhood  shall  crown  cooperative  Christian 
work  in  this  union  college  when  its  material  needs  are 
supplied  and  it  can  meet  well-armed  the  problems  that 
face  it  as  a  Christian  institution ! 

•Exceptional  graduates  of  four-year  high  schools  may  be  admitted, 
but  most  applicants  are  from  five-year  schools.  This  makes  the  Junior 
College  of  this  institution  one  year  higher  than  the  standard  govern¬ 
ment  junior  college. 


124  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 
5.  Christianizing  the  Student  Body 

The  problems  faced  in  common  by  all  the  Christian 
colleges  of  Japan  are  in  essence  two:  that  of  securing 
a  Christian  faculty,  and  that  of  Christianizing  the  stu¬ 
dent  body.  The  problem  of  the  faculty  is  apparent 
from  this  survey :  very  few  graduates  of  mission  girls’ 
schools  are  on  the  faculties  of  the  Christian  colleges. 
The  early  marriage  age  has  in  the  past  prevented  any 
large  number  of  girls  from  going  on  to  higher  work, 
and  Christian  colleges  have  offered  no  great  variety  of 
special  training,  English  and  domestic  science  having 
been  their  main  emphasis.  It  is  the  rare  Christian 
alumna  that  has  prepared  herself  for  advanced  teach¬ 
ing,  generally  by  study  abroad.  The  same  is  largely 
true  of  men  teachers.  It  is  mainly  a  university  degree 
that  qualifies  with  the  Government  for  a  daigaku 
teacher,  and  the  number  of  Christians  having  that 
degree  is  still  relatively  small. 

Difficulties 

In  securing  specialists  in  any  varied  list  of  subjects, 
a  Christian  institution  is  at  present  obliged  to  engage 
some  non-Christian  men.  It  ascertains  first  that  their 
attitude  toward  Christianity  is  not  unfriendly,  and  then 
tries  in  kindly  ways  to  lead  them  to  a  study  of  it ;  from 
time  to  time  it  has  the  joy  of  winning  one  to  an  accep¬ 
tance  of  it.  However,  the  lack  of  Christian  specialists 
ready-made  puts  upon  these  Christian  institutions  the 
necessity  of  raising  up  some  at  least  for  themselves. 
Fellowship  and  travel  funds  with  which  they  may  send 


THE  BUDDHIST  NUN 
WHO  BECAME  A 
CHRISTIAN 
(see  the  text) 

When  she  took  her  vows,  her  hair  was 
cut  off  by  the  high  priest  and  given 
to  her  relatives  to  be  buried  in  the  grave 
of  her  husband.  During  her  three 
years  of  training  at  the  temple  Hoshoji 
Yamato,  one  of  the  ascetic  sites  of  puri¬ 
fication  that  she  practiced  for  long 
periods  of  time  was  rising  at  2  a.  m., 
dressing  in  her  ceremonial  robe,  and 
then  standing  waist-deep  in  cold  water 
out-doors  while  pouring  buckets  of 
cold  water  over  her  head,  before  re¬ 
pairing  to  the  main  temple  to  recite 
okyo  (Buddhist  scriptures),  burn  in¬ 
cense,  pray,  etc.  When  she  had  left 
the  temple  and  was  studying  Chris¬ 
tianity,  she  still  wore  her  nun’s  gar¬ 
ment.  After  a  meeting  at  which  the 
famous  evangelist,  Rev.  Seimatsu 
Kimura,  had  spoken,  be  talked  with 
her  and  himself  removed  her  kesa 
(priestly  scarf).  “I  have  never  put  it 
on  again,”  she  says. 


BINZURU, 
POPULAR  GOD 
OF  HEALING 


125 


Women’s  Colleges  in  Japan 

abroad  for  study  promising  or  tested  Christian  men 
and  women  are  increasingly  important  as  higher  Chris¬ 
tian  education  advances.  More  and  more  young  wom¬ 
en  of  intellectual  tastes  are  being  allowed  by  their 
families  freedom  in  respect  to  marriage,  and  some  who 
have  married  and  brought  up  families  return  in  middle 
life  to  active  teaching.  Many  of  them  are  worthy  of 
special  opportunity  that  it  is  much  to  the  advantage  of 
the  Christian  colleges  to  provide. 

The  problem  of  Christian  nurture  for  the  student 
body  is  most  vital  to  the  purpose  of  the  institution.  In 
the  early  days  the  students  who  went  into  the  higher 
courses  of  mission  schools  were  almost  entirely  gradu¬ 
ates  of  the  lower  courses  in  those  schools,  and  a  con¬ 
secutive  Christian  atmosphere  was  easy  to  maintain. 
Now,  with  the  increased  demand  for  higher  study,  all 
the  Christian  colleges  are  drawing  from  the  govern¬ 
ment  schools  girls  who  have  no  knowledge  of  the  con¬ 
tent  of  Christianity.  For  instance,  fewer  than  one- 
fourth  of  the  present  Kobe  College  students  are  from 
Christian  high  schools.  Sometimes  a  Christian  girl 
comes  from  a  government  school,  but  such  is  the  ex¬ 
ception.  The  Christian  colleges  use  both  formal  and 
informal  means  of  Christian  nurture.  They  are  not 
sectarian  in  their  influence,  even  when  supported  by 
one  denominational  board.  Their  scattered  locations — 
except  for  the  three  in  Tokyo — make  them  draw  from 
local  populations,  including  many  varieties  of  Chris¬ 
tians.  One  of  these  colleges  has  seven  denominations 
represented  in  its  student  body,  five  on  its  faculty. 


126  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

There  is  no  sense  of  division  through  church  distinc¬ 
tions. 

Definitely  Religious  Activities 

In  the  mission  colleges,  Bible  is  required  throughout 
the  course.  Chapel  exercises  and  dormitory  prayers 
are  part  of  the  week’s  program.  Church  and  Sunday 
school  attendance,  when  not  required,  is  encouraged. 
The  Student  Young  Women’s  Christian  Association 
gives  a  channel  for  self-expression  along  religious 
lines.  Besides  its  devotional  meetings  and  voluntary 
Bible  classes,  it  offers  opportunities  of  practical  serv¬ 
ice  that  are  of  special  value  in  the  Orient,  where  reli¬ 
gion  has  traditionally  been  mainly  a  meditative  act. 
“Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it,”  not  only  thought  about  it,  is 
a  vital  teaching  to  the  young  Christian  of  Japan.  A 
Christian  college  girl’s  first  service  is  to  her  class¬ 
mates  and  her  own  family:  by  word  of  testimony  to 
her  faith  and  by  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit  in  her  life,  she 
bears  witness  to  her  new  allegiance.  But  often  the  Y. 
W.  C.  A.  gives  her  some  other  special  work  to  do  for 
Christianity.  It  may  be  helping  older  leaders  in  a 
meeting  for  factory  girls ;  acting  as  counselor  to  some 
group  of  high  school  girls;  assisting  in  the  music  at 
some  charitable  or  religious  function;  taking  a  reli¬ 
gious  census  of  the  college ;  planning  a  missionary  pro¬ 
gram  on  Africa,  or  collecting  funds  for  Armenian  or¬ 
phans,  or  doing  something  else  that  helps  the  student 
body  to  realize  its  call  to  world-brotherhood. 

The  Sunday  school  teaching  is  one  of  the  common¬ 
est  forms  of  service.  Kwassui  students,  with  the  aid 


127 


Women's  Colleges  in  Japan 

of  some  in  the  attached  high  school,  conduct  nineteen 
street  Sunday  schools  throughout  the  city.  Many  a 
skilled  teacher  in  Japan  to-day  dates  her  experience 
back  to  the  time  when,  as  a  new  or  prospective  Chris¬ 
tian  in  a  mission  school,  she  volunteered  to  accompany 
some  of  the  teaching  girls  and  help  to  keep  the  children 
quiet.  Many  of  the  mission  school  Sunday  schools  are 
held  in  private  homes  or  in  a  room  rented  for  an  hour 
a  week,  and  draw  the  children  in  from  off  the  street; 
some  are  in  chapels  or  orphan  asylums.  Some  of  the 
colleges  provide  an  informal  preparation  class  for  the 
girls  that  teach.  Special  drills  for  Flower  Sunday, 
Christmas,  and  the  Harvest  Festival,  exercise  her  in¬ 
genuity  and  her  organizing  power;  the  eager,  little 
faces  warm  her  heart  with  a  home  feeling  in  her  dorm¬ 
itory  life,  and  the  seed  she  sows  bears  fruit  in  time  or 
eternity — who  can  measure  it?  Frequent  testimony  of 
older  people  applying  for  baptism  is  that  they  first 
heard  of  Christianity  in  some  little  .Sunday  school. 
“So-and-So  is  graduating;  can  you  send  us  another 
just  like  her  to  take  her  place  in  our  kindergarten  de¬ 
partment  ?”  asks  a  church  Sunday  school  superintend¬ 
ent.  A  policeman  once  reported  picking  up  a  little 
fellow  of  five  or  so  walking  the  railroad  track.  “Where 
are  you  going?”  “I  am  going  to  Osaka  to  find  my 
Sunday  school  teacher,”  was  the  reply.  That  was  a 
case  where  the  college  had  not  been  able  to  supply  one 
“just  like  her.”  The  students  of  the  Woman's  Chris¬ 
tian  College  one  summer  conducted  a  Daily  Vacation 


128  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

Bible  School,  a  successful  experiment  in  Christian 
social  work. 

The  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  is  an¬ 
other  organization  that  offers  the  college  student  a  field 
for  activity,  and  student  “Y’s”  are  doing  good  work 
for  temperance  education  in  their  own  colleges,  as  well 
as  branching  out  and  promoting  Loyal  Temperance 
Legions  or  temperance  prize-speaking  contests  among 
children.  The  “Y”  of  Doshisha  Girls’  College  received 
the  national  prize  banner  for  1921-2  for  its  efficient 
work. 

For  dormitory  girls  there  is  the  added  influence  of 
Sunday.  In  training  students  into  the  Christian  life, 
the  task  of  the  Christian  college  with  reference  to  Sun¬ 
day  keeping  is  to  inculcate  in  a  girl  the  principles  of 
an  enlightened  Christian  conscience  that  she  may  carry 
out  with  her  and  apply  later  in  a  society  where  puri¬ 
tanic  usage,  on  the  one  hand,  is  impossible,  and  current 
social  custom,  on  the  other,  is  destructive  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Sunday.  Alumnae  have  come  back  and  witnessed 
to  the  value  of  the  Sunday  training  they  had  in  a  col¬ 
lege  dormitory.  Evening  prayers,  or  family  prayers, 
also  become  a  habit  after  a  few  years  in  a  Christian 
dormitory.  One  college  alumna  with  a  busy  family 
says,  “I  can’t  have  prayers  before  breakfast,  because 
the  late  ones  would  hinder  every  one ;  nor  after  break¬ 
fast,  because  the  children  are  in  a  hurry  to  get  to 
school.  So  we  stop  in  the  middle  of  the  meal  when 
every  one  is  there,  and  have  our  family  worship.” 

A  college  student  does  not  become  a  Christian  as 


-  - 


. 


' 


. 


(At  left) 

Miss  TJme  Tsuda,  Founder  of 
the  Girls’  English  College 


(Above) 

Miss  Tetsu  Yasui,  Dean  of  the 
Woman’s  Christian  College 


(At  left) 

Miss  Miohi  Matsuda,  Head  of 
Doshisha  Girls’  College 


THREE  LEADING  EDUCATORS 


129 


Women's  Colleges  in  Japan 

easily  as  a  high  school  girl.  There  are  more  things 
for  her  to  think  about.  A  girl  who  had  been  years 
in  a  Christian  college  and  was  soon  to  be  married  to  a 
non-Christian  man  decided  shortly  before  her  gradua¬ 
tion  to  take  a  stand  and  be  baptized.  It  was  an  act  of 
conviction  in  the  face  of  adverse  circumstances.  The 
pastor  at  the  examination  of  candidates,  knowing  of 
her  engagement,  asked,  “What  if  your  future  should 
be  to  make  a  home  for  a  non-Christian  man?”  Her 
reply  was,  “I  have  faced  that  possibility.  I  will  do  my 
best  to  lead  a  life  of  faith  and  win  him  also  to  one.” 
Sometimes  a  girl’s  study  of  philosophy  or  her  broaden¬ 
ing  sphere  raises  questions  in  her  mind.  “Please  ex¬ 
cuse  me  from  teaching  Sunday  school,”  said  a  student 
to  the  teacher  in  charge  of  the  Sunday  school  work. 
“I  feel  all  upset  and  don’t  know  what  kind  of  being 
God  really  is,  and  whether  Christ  really  performed  the 
miracles  that  are  written  or  not.  How  can  I  teach 
what  I  am  not  sure  about?” 

The  atmosphere  of  Japan  today  is  bustling  with 
questions  and  unrest,  a  stretching  out  for  better  things 
and  for  certainties  behind  the  fleeting  show  of  this 
changeful  world.  “The  one  thing  I  hope  for  our  col¬ 
lege,”  wrote  an  alumna  back  to  her  Alma  Mater,  “is 
that  the  teaching  about  God  be  strong  and  deep.  Keep 
telling  the  girls  about  Him.  That  knowledge  has  been 
the  one  thing  that  has  kept  me  through  the  difficulties 
of  these  later  years.”  It  is  the  joy  of  the  Christian 
teacher  to  help  the  opening  soul  to  make  contact  with 
this  one  great  Source  of  power,  to  use  class  work  to 


130  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

point  out  God  in  history,  science,  literature  and  to 
make  use  of  social  and  personal  opportunities  to  find 
out  the  individual  perplexity  and  help  solve  it. 

Space  forbids  the  telling  of  the  multitudinous  other 
student  activities — their  self-government  associations, 
their  literary  societies,  their  dramatics,  their  publica¬ 
tions,  their  language  societies,  their  athletics,  their 
clubs, — all  serving  the  same  purposes  as  they  do  in 
America  or  the  world  around,  all  helping  to  mould  in 
fruitful  and  efficient  forms  the  hopeful  women  leaders 
of  the  coming  generations. 

For  detailed  information  about  these  institutions, 
apply  to: 

Kwassui  Jo  Gakko,  Higashi  Yamate,  Nagasaki,  Japan, 
or 

Woman’s  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  Metho¬ 
dist  Episcopal  Church,  Room  710,  150  Fifth  Ave., 
New  York,  N.  Y. 

Kobe  College,  Yamamoto-dori  4  chome,  Kobe,  Japan, 
or 

Kobe  College  Corporation,  R.  1315,  19  S.  La  Salle  St., 
Chicago,  Ill. 

Japan  Women’s  University,  Mejirodai,  Koishikawa, 
Tokyo,  Japan. 

Girls’  English  College,  16  Gobancho,  Kojimachi, 
Tokyo,  Japan,  or 

Mrs.  Wister  Morris,  Overbrook,  Penn. 

Doshisha  Girls’  College,  Imadegawa,  Kyoto,  Japan,  or 
Woman’s  Board  of  Missions  for  the  Pacific, 
Phelan  Building,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 


131 


Women's  Colleges  in  Japan 

Seishin  Joshi  Gakuin,  Sanko  cho,  Shiba,  Tokyo,  Japan. 
Woman’s  Christian  College  of  Japan,  100  Tsunohazu. 

Shinjiku,  Tokyo,  Japan,  or 
Committee  on  Women’s  Union  Colleges  in  the  Orient, 
300  Ford  Building,  Boston,  Mass. 

SELECTIONS 

The  National  Young  Women’s  Christian  Association  holds 
an  annual  student  conference  in  Gotemba  in  quarters  bor¬ 
rowed  from  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  What  a  group  of  college  girls 
at  the  1922  conference  decided  to  do  is  recorded  in  this  ex¬ 
tract  from  a  letter : 

“I  had  a  very  good  time  at  Gotemba . It  was  a  great 

conference,  there  met  some  two  hundred  girls  from  various 
places.  I  could  learn  many  wonderful  things.  I  could  ac¬ 
quaint  with  many  teachers  and  many  new  friends  who  are 
far  from  me  and  taught  many  things.  And  I  thank  heartily. 
I  knew  there  are  many  poor,  lonely,  helpless  girls  in  the  world 
where  I  did  not  know,  so  I  thought  I  must  help  those  young 
girls  in  any  way.  There  were  only  few  Colleges  at  the  con¬ 
ference, — Tokyo  Christian  College,  Joshi  Eigaku,  Japan,  and 
Kobe  College.  So  that  we  girls  worked  with  our  best  hearts. 
Japanese  Y.  W.  C.  A.  bought  the  great  site  for  the  building  of 
summer  conference  in  Gotemba.  And  we  college  girls  de¬ 
cided  to  make  the  library.  I  think  it  is  very  difficult  to  get 
so  much  money  (at  least  5  thousand  yen),  but  if  we  work 
with  our  best  heart  and  with  always  praying,  it  must  be  easy 
thing.  So  that  I  believe  it  is  possible  to  make  it.  We  are 
planning  the  way  to  earn  the  money  and  we  must  work  as 
soon  as  we  can,  because  we  must  send  some  money  to  head¬ 
quarter  as  the  first  term  this  December.  ...  I  had  a  so  good 
time  at  Gotemba  that  I  wish  to  go  to  such  a  conference  every 
year  and  I  wish  too  that  all  the  girls  in  the  College  may  at¬ 
tend  to  the  conference  if  it  is  possible.  I  was  very  glad,  for 
there  were  happy  twelve  girls  who  decided  to  be  baptized,  .  ” 


132  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

Woman's  Union  Christian  College  of  Japan 
Valedictory  address  by 
Miss  Fumi  Mitani,  March,  1922. 

When  the  college  first  opened  its  gates  to  us,  four  years 
ago,  and  we  all  came  trooping  in,  we  noticed  the  tender  young 
buds  of  the  trees  just  opening  into  green  leaves.  How  much 
we  felt  like  them  in  our  forward-looking  hopes.  Since  that 
spring  four  time  the  leaves  have  turned  yellow,  and  four  times 
the  new  leaves  have  come  out,  and  now  for  the  fifth  time  the 
lawn  is  green,  and  the  magnolias  are  in  bloom.  Nature  never 
gets  old,  but  is  always  renewing  herself;  she  is  ever  young, 
ever  fresh.  Yes,  we  were  young  when  we  opened  your  gates 
and  now  we  are  more  youthful  still,  for  you  have  taught  us 
what  Plato  meant  when  he  said :  “In  the  Ideal  World  to  grow 
older  is  to  grow  younger.”  For,  oh,  what  an  infinite  world 
you  have  opened  before  us !  How  small  you  have  made  us ! 
A  queen  of  a  pond  we  were,  and  now  we  are  even  smaller 
than  a  grain  of  sand  on  the  shore  of  the  boundless  sea.  You 
are  a  magician.  What  to  us  before  was  a  line  of  words  or  a 
stone,  has  become  to  us  a  world,  no,  a  universe.  Like  Saul, 
the  son  of  Kish,  who  was  sent  to  seek  his  father’s  ass  and 
found  a  kingdom,  we  opened  your  gates  in  time  and  have 
been  led  into  the  realm  of  eternity. 

The  daily  morning  service  has  brought  us  strength  and  in¬ 
spiration  of  soul.  But  you  have  also  taught  us  the  sacred 
meaning  of  study.  You  have  taught  us  that  to  study  is  to 
pray,  that  to  study  is  to  trace  the  footprints  of  God.  The 
subjects  we  have  been  taught  were  various.  Some  studied 
Philosophy,  some  Japanese  or  English  Literature,  others 
Economics,  and  still  others  Social  Sciences.  But  v/hat  we 
have  learned  is  at  bottom  the  same, — that  to  study  with  sin¬ 
cerity  is  itself  to  be  pious.  In  every  subject  you  have  led  us 
till  we  bowed  our  heads  in  humble  awe  before  Him  who  re¬ 
veals  Himself  through  all. 

You  tell  us  that  to-day  is  our  Commencement  Day.  It 
seems  but  yesterday  that  we  entered  here.  But  now  it  may 


133 


Women's  Colleges  in  Japan 

be  it  is  time  for  us  to  go.  We  feel  like  young  birds  pushed 
by  the  mother  bird  from  the  nest  because  it  is  time  for  us  to 
learn  to  use  our  wings.  Yet  we  seem  to  hear  a  voice  calling 
us.  It  is  the  voice  of  the  dearest  treasure  of  our  hearts  and 
at  the  same  time  the  greatest  gift  you  have  ever  been  able  to 
give  us, — the  quiet  but  authoritative  calling  of  your  deepest 
principle — Service  and  Sacrifice. 

To-day  is  not  only  our  Commencement  Day,  but  is  the 
Commencement  Day  of  your  self-expansion.  You  are  going  to 
spread  through  us  to  enlarge  yourself  into  a  spiritual  college 
which  is  no  longer  bound  by  the  laws  of  Time  and  Space. 
We  thank  you  from  our  hearts  for  the  diplomas  you  have  just 
granted  us.  They  shall  be  to  us  a  sign  of  your  trust,  and  we 
promise  that  the  College  shall  suffer  no  harm  from  our  hold¬ 
ing  them.  We  know  we  have  had  the  greatest  privilege  that 
any  class  can  have,  for  we  have  been  with  you  during  the 
hardest  part  of  your  life,  and  because  we  know  so  well,  we 
can  sympathize  with  you  more  deeply.  But  where  our  privi¬ 
leges  are  great,  there  our  responsibilities  are  great  also.  We 
will  remember  that  we  are  still  a  part  of  the  college  and  we 
are  going  out  into  the  world  with  your  spirit  in  our  hearts 
and  we  know  that  where  your  spirit  is  there  you  are  also. 

Grow  freely  through  us  young  branches,  Mother  Tree. 
Spring  is  vitalizing  us  with  its  light  and  warmth  and  we  go 
out  into  the  air  to  bring  new  life  to  you.  Let  us  grow  until 
we  bear  some  modest  fruit  working  together  for  the  glory  of 
the  Great  Father  who  is  the  source  of  your  hope  and  ours. 


OUTLINE  OF  CHAPTER  FIVE 


Fields  Where  Japanese  Women  Have  Succeeded 

1.  Place  of  Women  in  Ancient  Japanese  Religious 

Systems. 

2.  Modern  Japanese  Women  in  the  Arts. 

3.  Modern  Japanese  Women  in  Education. 

4.  Modern  Japanese  Women  in  Business. 

5.  Modern  Japanese  Women  in  Medicine. 

6.  Modern  Japanese  Women  in  Philanthropy. 

7.  Modern  Japanese  Women  in  Patriotic  Service. 


CHAPTER  FIVE 


Fields  Where  Japanese  Women  Have  Succeeded 

The  woman  of  Japan,  for  the  first  time  in  history,  is  stand¬ 
ing  erect.  .  .  in  no  land  in  all  history  has  womanhood  been 
put  to  such  a  test  as  she  is  now  undergoing  in  Japan.  .  . 
From  ages  of  protective  domination,  with  a  measure  of  “pro¬ 
tective  exploitation,”  the  woman  of  Japan  is  being  projected 
into  a  new  existence.  .  .  . 

World  Survey, 

Interchurch  World  Movement. 

One  day  on  a  train  trip  I  was  sitting  next  a  khaki- 
clad  military  man.  Noticing  that  I  had  spoken  to  the 
train-boy  in  Japanese,  the  officer  turned  and  addressed 
me. 

“You  speak  Japanese,”  he  said.  “Have  you  been 
long  in  Japan?” 

“Yes,  many  years,”  I  replied. 

“Then  you  know  Japan  well.  Are  you  in  religious 
work  ?” 

“Yes,  I  am  in  a  Christian  college  for  girls.  Have 
you  studied  Christianity?” 

“A  little — not  really  enough  to  say  I  know  much 
about  it — but  I  believe  in  religion  and  think  it’s  a  good 
thing  for  every  one  to  have  some.  Personally,  I  want 
to  study  many  religions  before  I  settle  down  to  any 
one.  I  think  there  is  good  in  them  all.  Buddhism  now 
has  a  great  deal  of  beauty  and  truth  in  it;  its  priest- 


135 


136  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

hood  is  rather  corrupt,  but  it  has  done  much  for 
Japan.” 

“I  agree  with  you  that  it  has;  it  has  been  a  great 
educator  of  the  people  in  moral  and  religious  lines. 
But  one  way  in  which  to  judge  of  a  religion  is  by  its 
effect  on  individuals  and  on  society.  As  I  see  Buddh¬ 
ism,  one  of  its  results  through  these  centuries  has  been 
to  keep  woman  in  a  position  of  subjection  and  even 
degradation.  Buddhism  has  not  given  her  a  place  of 
self-respect  and  individual  worth.” 

“That  is  true,”  he  promptly  admitted. 

1.  Place  of  Women  in  Ancient  Japanese  Religious 

Systems 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  indigenous  religion  of 
Japan  gave  women  a  high  place.  The  main  Shinto 
deities  are  the  Sun-Goddess  and  the  Goddess  of  Food. 
In  the  Shinto  ceremonies  virgins  had  often  an  impor¬ 
tant  initial  part,  a  priestess  even  being  the  central  fig¬ 
ure  of  one  of  the  great  rites  of  purification.*  But 
Buddhism  from  the  sixth  century  A.  D.  and  Confu¬ 
cianism  that  followed  on  its  trail  from  China  branded 
woman  as  inferior.  She  was  taught  to  consider  her¬ 
self  incapable  of  intellectual  effort  and  independent 
action.  Until  the  reformed  or  “Protestant”  Buddhism 
of  Shinran  (1173-1262  A.  D.),  her  only  hope  of  at¬ 
taining  Buddhahood  was  through  rebirth  as  a  man. 
Yet  religion  has  always  offered  the  Japanese  woman  a 

*See  Brinkley’s  Oriental  Series,  Vol.  5,  Ch.  4,  “Creed  and  Caste,’’ 
for  amplification  of  this  subject. 


Fields  Where  Women  Have  Succeeded  137 

wide  field.  The  deep  religious  instinct  that  she  shares 
with  all  womankind  made  her  an  earnest  devotee  of 
her  sect.  She  went  on  her  pilgrimages  for  spiritual 
peace  or  temporal  blessings;  she  made  great  sacrifices 
for  her  offerings.  Thousands  of  women  believers  con¬ 
secrated  their  glossy  black  hair  to  be  made  into  ropes 
for  use  in  erecting  the  timbers  of  the  Higashi  Hong- 
wan  ji  (temple)  in  Kyoto. 

Colonel  Yamamuro,  the  leading  Japanese  in  the  Sal¬ 
vation  Army,  has  told  how  his  mother  in  his  child¬ 
hood  prayed  at  the  village  shrine  that  her  son  might 
succeed  in  life,  and  how  she  sealed  her  prayer  with  a 
vow  of  perpetual  abstinence  from  meat  foods.  When 
her  prayer  had  been  abundantly  answered  by  her  son’s 
signal  success  as  a  Christian  preacher  and  organizer, 
and  wrhen  the  infirmities  of  old  age  were  creeping  upon 
her,  friendly  advice  recommended  an  occasional  egg 
for  nourishment.  “No,”  said  the  old  woman  firmly, 
“I  am  too  old  to  understand  my  son’s  religion,  but  at 
least  I  will  keep  my  vow  through  life.” 

At  least  three  women  have  been  founders  of  pseudo- 
Shinto  sects  that  are  flourishing  today  among  tens  of 
thousands  of  believers.*  There  are  over  ten  thousand 
Japanese  nuns  and  priestesses  who  are  devoting  their 
lives  to  the  formal  service  of  Buddhism  or  Shintoism 
in  some  established  sect.  This  does  not  include  the 
miko,  little  girls  who  perform  the  sacred  dance  at 
Shinto  shrines;  their  number  is  not  included  in  gov¬ 
ernment  statistics. 


*Tenrikyo,  Omotokyo,  and  Tenshokyo. 


138  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

The  Buddhist  nuns  are  often  little  girls  educated 
from  childhood  in  a  temple,  and  initiated  at  a  suitable 
age  into  the  full  status  of  a  nun.  Some  are  imperial 
princesses  for  whom  there  was  no  one  of  suitable  rank 
for  husband,  so  that  their  families  early  decided  on  a 
religious  career  for  them.  Some  are  mature  women 
whose  disappointments  have  led  them  to  renounce  the 
world. 

Two  Buddhist  Nuns 

A  few  years  ago  a  nun  who  had  secretly  left  her 
temple  appeared  at  the  home  of  missionaries  and  de¬ 
sired  to  study  Christianity.  She  was  a  well-educated 
girl  of  good  family,  and  had  been  happily  married ; 
but  the  loss  of  her  husband,  her  two  children,  and  a 
sister-in-law  within  a  short  space  of  time  had  led  her 
to  resolve  to  enter  a  temple  and  spend  her  life  praying 
for  the  happiness  of  her  beloved  dead.  As  a  nun  she 
followed  a  rigorous  training  of  ascetic  rites  and  study 
of  Buddhist  scriptures,  until  she  had  passed  a  high 
grade  of  ceremony  and  was  appointed,  to  the  headship 
of  a  temple.  Her  whole  heart  and  soul  had  been  in 
her  training,  but  the  insincerity  of  some  of  the  priests 
and  a  sense  that  Buddhism  was  not  keeping  up  with 
the  times  drove  her  away  before  entering  upon  her 
high  office.  At  first  she  thought  the  main  difference 
between  Christianity  and  Buddhism  was  that  the  for¬ 
mer  was  more  skilled  in  its  methods  of  propagation ; 
but  before  long  she  became  convinced,  through  Chris¬ 
tian  Japanese  friends,  of  the  distinctive  teaching  of 
the  atoning  love  of  Christ ;  and  she  became  as  earnest 


Fields  Where  Women  Have  Succeeded  139 

a  Christian  as  she  had  been  Buddhist.  As  it  was  im¬ 
possible  for  her,  with  her  broken  vows,  to  return  to 
her  family  or  look  to  them  for  support,  she  worked  for 
a  while  as  maid  and  seamstress ;  and  then  learned  a 
trade.  She  is  now  independent  as  a  graduate  mas¬ 
seuse,  and  gives  generously  of  her  earnings  for  Chris¬ 
tian  work. 

The  converse  of  this  story  is  that  of  a  present 
Buddhist  abbess  who  had  become  a  Christian  as  a  girl 
and  received  part  of  her  training  in  a  mission  school 
in  Tokyo.  Her  aunt,  the  head  of  a  large  temple  in 
Echigo,  had  long  wished  to  make  this  girl  her  succes¬ 
sor.  The  girl’s  breakdown  in  school  with  tuberculosis 
gave  her  aunt  the  opportunity  to  win  her  by  kind¬ 
ness.  She  did  everything  to  link  the  girl  to  herself  and 
her  temple.  The  girl,  who  had  been  brought  back  to 
the  temple  supposedly  to  die,  unexpectedly  recovered 
in  the  mountain  air.  On  her  aunt’s  death  she  suc¬ 
ceeded  her  as  abbess  and  became  a  very  popular  lec¬ 
turer  through  all  the  province.  She  was  teaching 
Christianity  under  a  Buddhist  guise.  The  people  were 
amazed  at  her  teaching,  so  different  from  other 
Buddhists,  but  supposed  that  she  had  been  abroad  and 
gotten  this  wonderful  world  knowledge  that  way. 
When  a  former  missionary  friend  visited  her  in  her 
temple,  where  she  was  seated  high  on  golden  cushions 
and  receiving  the  homage  of  all  around,  she  hastened 
down  from  her  cushions,  and  opened  her  heart  to  her 
friend.  Weeping,  she  confessed  her  unhappiness  and 


140  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

weakness  in  having  gone  back  to  Buddhism  while  still 
believing  at  heart  in  Christianity. 

In  accordance  with  the  modern  movement  to  organ¬ 
ize,  Buddhist  women  have  formed  themselves  into  so¬ 
cieties.  The  largest  and  oldest  (1895)  of  such  so¬ 
cieties  is  that  connected  with  the  Otani  branch  of 
Buddhism.  This  society,  numbering  a  quarter  of  a 
million  members,  has  two  main  aims,  character-culture 
in  accordance  with  Buddhist  teachings  and  social  serv¬ 
ice  ;  it  conducts  an  employment  bureau,  aids  impecuni¬ 
ous  girls  to  get  an  education,  and  publishes  a  maga¬ 
zine  entitled  “Woman’s  Virtue.”  Another  well- 
known  society  was  founded  after  the  Russian  War  by 
the  famous  Abbess  Murakumo,  whose  name  it  bears. 
This  organization,  as  well  as  several  lesser  ones,  fol¬ 
lows  two  main  purposes,  religious  culture  and  its  ex¬ 
pression  in  some  sort  of  relief  work;  a  frequent  activ¬ 
ity  is  aid  for  the  families  of  deceased  or  disabled 
soldiers. 

2.  Modern  Japanese  Women  in  the  Arts 

As  in  religion  women  have  from  ancient  times  won 
laurels,  so  also  in  literature.  A  thousand  years  ago, 
before  the  period  of  suppression,  women  flowered  in 
poetry  and  prose.  Japan’s  most  famous  classic  novel, 
Genji  Monogatari,  was  written  by  a  woman.  To-day 
also  an  occasional  woman  is  commanding  attention 
with  her  pen.  The  foremost  woman  writer  is  Madame 
Akiko  Yosano,  wife  of  a  professor  in  Keio  University. 
The  slogan  of  the  conservatives  with  regard  to 


Fields  Where  Women  Have  Succeeded  141 

woman’s  place  has  always  been  Ryosai  kembo,  “good 
wife  and  wise  mother,”  which  the  radicals  have  op¬ 
posed  for  its  narrow  limitations.  Madame  Yosano  is 
a  sane  illustration  of  a  woman  who  can  succeed  pro¬ 
fessionally  while  still  putting  her  home  in  the  first 
place  of  importance.  With  the  aid  of  one  servant  she 
has  run  her  house  and  brought  up  her  eleven  children, 
doing  her  writing  at  night  when  the  majority  of  her 
family  have  gone  to  bed.  A  trip  to  Europe  in  1912 
gave  her  first-hand  contact  with  the  outer  world.  Her 
articles  on  political  and  social  questions,  published  in 
the  leading  magazines,  and  her  sixteen  volumes  of 
poems  show  her  wide  interests  and  power  of  clear 
thinking. 

No  creative  literary  genius  has  yet  appeared  from 
among  the  Christian  women  of  to-day ;  but  in  transla¬ 
tion  some  of  them  have  rendered  valuable  service — as 
Mrs.  Tsuchiko  Yamamoto  with  “Pollyanna,”  who  has 
won  the  love  of  Japanese  girls  as  of  American.  Mrs. 
Hana  Muraoka  is  another  who  through  translation  for 
the  Christian  Literature  Society  has  helped  bring 
Christian  truth  to  many.  Christian  women  are  also 
making  creditable  contributions  to  devotional  or  social 
literature. 

Painting 

In  the  other  arts  women  have  taken  no  mean  place. 
Madame  Noguchi  of  Tokyo,  whose  art-name  is 
“Shohin,”  is  famed  for  landscape  painting.  She  is  now 
nearly  seventy  years  of  age,  and  was  for  a  long  time  a 
teacher  of  art  in  the  Peeresses’  School.  Madame 


142  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

Kamimura  of  Kyoto,  (art-name  “Shoen”)  now  about 
fifty  years  of  age,  stands  out  in  the  realm  of  portrait¬ 
painting.  The  outside  world  has  influenced  Japan’s 
art  as  well  as  all  else.  In  the  national  art  exhibition  of 
1919  there  were  some  noteworthy  pictures  on  Chris¬ 
tian  subjects.  One  was  a  portrait  of  Jesus  Christ  by 
a  Japanese  man;  it  showed  with  a  true  spiritual  quality 
the  combined  influence  of  European  tradition  and  Ori¬ 
ental  form.  Another  was  a  group  of  three  little  girls 
in  Sunday  School,  painted  by  the  Christian  mother  of 
one  of  them,  Mrs.  Fumiko  Kametaka;  they  are  listen¬ 
ing  wide-eyed  to  the  story  of  Daniel. 

“Gvokuyo,”  the  late  Miss  Fumiko  Kurihara,  was 
one  of  the  most  promising  young  painters  of  Japan, 
having  taken  prize  after  prize  at  art  exhibitions.  A 
Christian  graduate  of  a  mission  school  (Sturges  Sem¬ 
inary,  Nagasaki),  she  had  pursued  the  study  of  art 
both  under  private  teachers  and  at  the  Woman’s  Art 
School  in  Tokyo,  and  had  been  particularly  successful 
in  painting  children,  for  which  she  has  been  compared 
to  Jessie  Wilcox  Smith. 

Music 

In  music,  Japan’s  leading  pianists  are  women.  Miss 
Hisako  Kuno,  the  little  lame  player  from  the  govern¬ 
ment  conservatory  in  Tokyo,  puts  a  wealth  of  emo¬ 
tion  into  her  concert  renderings;  Miss  Sue  Ogura,  a 
Christian  graduate  of  a  mission  school  before  she  per¬ 
fected  her  musical  education  in  Germany  and  America, 
charms  with  the  clearness  and  accuracy  of  her  touch 
and  her  conscientious  interpretation  of  the  composer. 


Fields  Where  Women  Have  Succeeded  143 

In  an  age  when  social  standards  are  in  flux  and  the 
eyes  of  the  public  keen  to  detect  scandal,  Miss  Ogura 
sets  for  young  professional  women  a  valuable  example 
of  care  for  things  of  good  report.  In  her  concert  tours 
she  is  always  chaperoned  by  her  German  sister-in-law, 
to  whom  she  owres  much  of  her  early  training  and  her 
musical  privileges.  In  voice,  Madame  Tamaki  Miura 
has  won  a  world  reputation  through  her  rendering  of 
“Madame  Butterfly”  and  other  operas.  She  had  a 
national  reputation  for  her  voice  before  she  left  Japan 
in  1914  for  eight  years  abroad.  Of  the  few  weeks 
when  she  was  singing  in  Washington  every  night  for 
the  soldiers  who  were  soon  to  start  for  the  front,  she 
says,  “Those  were  the  happiest  days  of  my  life.”  Of 
the  part  that  Christian  song  has  to  contribute  to  the 
upbuilding  of  society  in  Japan,  we  shall  speak  in  the 
next  chapter. 

The  Stage 

The  stage  has  begun  in  this  modern  era  to  offer  op¬ 
portunities  to  women.  Formerly  men  took  women’s 
parts;  and  geisha  performed  some  stage  dances.  The 
idea  of  actress  has  had  to  fight  in  Japan  as  elsewhere 
against  contempt  and  low  associations,  but,  as  in  the 
West,  an  occasional  star  has  shone  and  helped  to  raise 
the  whole  profession.  Perhaps  the  most  popular  liv¬ 
ing  actress  in  Japan  is  Miss  Ritsuko  Mori,  the  first 
prominent  example  of  an  educated  woman  going  on 
the  stage.  She  was  born  in  1890,  and  after  graduating 
from  the  Atomi  Girls’  School  and  then  from  the  first 
class  of  the  Actresses’  Training  School  attached  to  the 


144  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

Imperial  Theater  in  Tokyo,  she  further  enlarged  her 
horizon  by  going  abroad  in  1912  and  studying  the 
drama  of  the  West.  She  is  now  one  of  the  managing 
actresses  of  the  Imperial  Theater. 

Another  force  for  the  elevating  of  the  stage  is  a 
result  of  the  influence  of  Professor  Yuzo  Tsubouchi 
of  Waseda  University.  His  association  of  educated 
people  studies  drama  and  also  acts  some  selected  plays. 
Its  recent  tour  presenting  Kurata’s  “The  Monk  and 
His  Disciples”  was  not  only  an  effective  advertisement 
of  that  forceful  religious  play,  but  an  expression  of  the 
new  ideals  of  the  Japanese  stage,  where  qualified 
women  shall  play  strong  and  dignified  roles  in  well- 
matched  casts. 

3.  Modern  Japanese  Women  in  Education 

Behind  all  these  new  openings  for  women  lies,  of 
course,  the  modern  education  for  girls.  More  modern 
women  have  distinguished  themselves  in  education 
than  in  any  other  one  line.  In  fact,  that  was  the  first  ac¬ 
tivity  in  which  women’s  latent  powers  developed.  The 
pioneer  was  Miss  Kakei  Atomi,  the  daughter  of  a  good 
family  reduced  to  very  straitened  circumstances.  She 
was  so  keen-minded  that  even  at  the  age  of  ten  she 
was  able  to  help  her  father’s  pupils  read  the  Chinese 
classics.  She  early  resolved — a  very  rare  resolution 
sixty  years  ago — that  she  would  never  marry,  in  order 
that  she  might  devote  herself  to  restoring  the  family 
fortunes.  In  her  zeal  she  earned  her  own  expenses 
while  studying  the  classics  and  art,  sometimes  sitting 


CHRISTIAN  SCHOOL  FOR  DEAF  CHILDREN,  TOKYO 


Fields  Where  Women  Have  Succeeded  145 

up  all  night  and  painting  as  many  as  one  hundred  fans 
a  night  for  sale. 

Miss  Atomi’s  Famous  School 
In  1870,  the  year  before  the  pioneer  girls  sailed  for 
America,  Miss  Atomi  went  up  to  Tokyo  and  began 
her  life  there.  She  gathered  a  few  pupils  around 
her  and  taught  small  groups,  having  fifty  pupils 
in  1872;  in  1875  she  was  able  to  organize  the  Atomi 
Girls’  School,  in  which  she  is  still  teaching,  although 
she  has  passed  over  to  her  adopted  daughter  the 
burden  of  principalship.  Its  five  thousand  graduates 
include  princesses  and  many  others  of  high  rank. 
It  was  Miss  Atomi  who  revived  for  school  girls  the 
ancient  court  hakama  or  plaited  skirt  that  is  now  uni¬ 
versal.  Her  emphasis  on  exercise  and  introduction  of 
imitation  old  court  dances  were  an  anticipation  of 
modern  physical  culture. 

Friend  of  the  Empress,  Poet,  Educator 
Madame  Utako  Shimoda  also  started  from  humble 
circumstances.  After  her  father’s  illness  forced  his 
resignation  from  his  government  post,  the  girl  of  fif¬ 
teen  worked  for  a  short  time  in  a  fan  factory  to  help 
meet  the  medical  bills.  Her  father  had  recognized  her 
poetic  ability,  and  had  from  time  to  time  sent  her 
poems  to  one  of  the  court  poets  for  criticism.  The 
poet  told  the  Empress  of  the  girl’s  talent,  whereupon 
the  Empress  sent  for  the  girl  and  had  her  compose  sev¬ 
eral  poems  on  the  spot.  The  Empress’s  delight  ex¬ 
pressed  itself  in  the  gift  to  the  girl  of  a  new  name, 
“Utako,”  or  “poetry”  (with  the  conventional  ending 


146  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

“ko,”  appended  to  a  woman’s  name).  She  was  at  once 
appointed  to  court  service  and  became  the  Empress’s 
companion  in  study  of  Japanese,  Chinese,  and  Eng¬ 
lish.  Her  keen  mind  improved  every  opportunity. 
Later  married  and  soon  widowed,  she  determined  to 
devote  herself  to  education.  After  some  years  as  dean 
of  the  Peeresses’  School,  a  trip  abroad,  and  a  period 
as  governess  to  two  imperial  princesses,  she  organized 
a  group  of  women  and  with  their  backing  founded  in 
1899  the  Jissen  Girls’  School  and  the  Girls’  Technical 
School,  later  united  under  the  former  name.  This  is 
now  one  of  the  largest  girls’  schools  in  Tokyo,  and 
Madam  Shimoda  is  active  in  many  lines  of  feminine 
leadership.  The  late  Marquis  Okuma  said  of  her,  “If 
she  had  been  a  man,  she  would  have  become  a  Cabinet 
Minister.” 

Founders  of  Vocational  and  Business  Schools 
Mrs.  Haruko  Hatoyama  helped  to  found  the  Girls’ 
Vocational  School  in  Tokyo  in  1886,  and  has  acted  as 
its  sub-principal  much  of  the  time  since.  But,  apart 
from  her  professional  activities,  she  is  known  among 
the  women  of  Japan  for  the  painstaking  care  that  she 
took  for  her  children’s  education.  She  made  a  prac¬ 
tice  of  rising  early  to  study  the  lessons  her  boys  were 
to  have  in  school  that  day,  so  that  she  might  be  sure 
that  they  were  prepared.  Later  when  they  were 
grown  and  one  was  a  university  professor  and  the 
other  was  running  for  parliament,  she  astonished  the 
conservatives  by  going  on  a  house-to-house  campaign 
in  the  latter’s  behalf.  To  her  native  energies  and  local 


Fields  Where  Women  Have  Succeeded  147 

experience  she  added  the  stimulus  of  a  trip  round  the 
world  with  her  husband  (a  law  professor  in  the  Im¬ 
perial  University),  to  attend  the  two  hundredth  anni¬ 
versary  of  Yale  University.  The  vocational  school 
with  which  she  has  been  connected  teaches  a  variety  of 
handicraft,  such  as  sewing,  knitting,  making  artificial 
flowers,  and  meets  the  need  of  some  older  women  as 
well  as  of  young  girls.  Her  interest  in  domestic  life 
as  well  as  education  has  led  her  to  the  publication  of  a 
book  entitled  “The  Model  Home.” 

The  earnest  and  capable  women  who  have  started 
schools  since  1900  both  in  Tokyo  and  in  distant  places 
are  too  numerous  to  mention.  A  number  of  them  have, 
like  Miss  Atomi,  been  rewarded  by  government  dec¬ 
orations, — well  deserved  for  both  the  effort  and  the 
success  involved.  Two  whose  work  has  been  of  differ¬ 
ent  types  should,  however,  be  mentioned.  One  is  the 
founder  of  the  Girls’  Commercial  School  in  Tokyo. 
Miss  Takako  Kaetsu  felt  that  middle-class  girls  were 
not  receiving  all  the  opportunities  that  those  of  the 
upper  classes  were  getting,  and  that  the  growing  ten¬ 
dency  to  vanity  and  ostentation  should  be  checked  by 
a  practical  education  cultivating  common  sense  and 
economical  ideas,  also  that  girls  should  be  trained  vo¬ 
cationally,  so  that  if  some  untoward  turn  of  the  wheel 
of  chance  laid  on  a  new  widow  or  orphan  the  necessi¬ 
ty  of  self-support,  she  should  be  able  to  meet  it.  Miss 
Kaetsu  and  her  school,  founded  in  1903,  are  exponents 
of  this  modern  thought,  and  have  had  great  influence 
in  dignifying  the  idea  of  woman’s  education  for  self- 
support. 


148  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

Mrs.  Hani  Blazes  a  New  Trail  in  Teaching 

The  other  new  educational  development,  the  Jiyu 
Gakuen  or  “Liberty  Learning-Garden,”  was  founded 
in  1921  by  Mrs.  Motoko  Hani,  a  Christian  woman,  and 
a  group  of  sympathizers.  Her  own  dissatisfaction 
with  the  cut-and-dried  existent  system  in  the  usual 
girls’  schools  prompted  her,  for  the  sake  of  her  own 
daughter  and  other  girls,  to  get  together  some  who 
would  join  her  in  promoting  a  school  where  the  em¬ 
phasis  should  be  on  usable  knowledge  and  development 
of  personality.  Mrs.  Hani  has  the  same  subjects 
taught  that  are  generally  found  in  secondary  schools, 
but  with  an  emphasis  on  acquiring  a  reading  habit  in 
their  own  language,  a  practical  degree  of  speaking 
English,  an  application  of  common  sense  and  experi¬ 
ence  in  every  class  that  can  be  linked  up  with  actual 
life  in  home  and  society.  She  has  each  class  organized 
into  groups  of  six  that  make  one  “family.”  For  one 
year  this  family  remains  together  through  thick  and 
thin,  cooks  its  own  lunches  at  school,  guides  its  unruly 
and  assists  its  weak  members,  and  learns  the  inevitable 
lessons  of  mutual  forbearance  and  helpfulness  in  ways 
of  actual  living,  in  correlation  of  head  and  hand,  as 
well  as  through  academic  instruction. 

Mrs.  Hani  is,  as  has  been  stated,  an  earnest  Chris¬ 
tian.  Very  few  of  the  founders  of  private  schools 
have  been  Christians.  The  majority  of  Christian 
women  who  have  done  outstanding  educational  service 
have  done  it  in  connection  with  mission  schools  to 
which  they  were  indispensable.  In  that  service  they 


COMMENCEMENT  DAY  PROCESSION 

Woman’s  Christian  College.  Tokyo 


Fields  Where  Women  Have  Succeeded  149 

have  often  sacrificed  possibilities  of  fame  and  money, 
while  they  laid  up  for  themselves  treasure  in  heaven 
and  helped  put  the  leaven  of  the  Kingdom  into  homes 
and  into  society. 

Besides  individual  educational  enterprises,  there  are 
local  educational  associations  everywhere  to  which 
women  may  belong.  There  are  also  national  associa¬ 
tions,  mixed  or  for  women  only,  as  the  Japan 
Woman’s  Educational  Association,  founded  in  1896, 
in  order  to  promote  the  progress  of  female  education, 
and  the  Woman’s  Christian  Education  Association. 
This  latter  grew  out  of  the  Tokyo-Yokohama  group 
of  Christian  school-teachers  and  holds  an  annual  meet¬ 
ing  for  the  discussion  of  problems  common  to  Christian 
educators  of  girls, — academic,  moral,  and  spiritual.  It 
took  the  active  part  in  the  promotion  of  the  Woman’s 
Union  Christian  College  and  has  been  interested  in 
the  investigation  of  good  reading  matter  for  girls, 
and  in  guiding  in  social  standards  for  the  mingling  of 
young  men  and  young  women  in  this  transition  age 
from  old  conventions  to  new  ideals.  There  are  also  the 
numerous  alumnae  associations  of  individual  schools,  a 
number  of  which  are  doing  some  definite  constructive 
work  for  their  mother  institution  or  for  society.  A 
Federation  of  Girls’  School  Alumnae  in  Tokyo  was 
founded  in  1918  with  Mrs.  Hani,  Mrs.  Hamako 
Tsukamoto  of  Aoyama  Girls’  School,  Mrs.  Tamiko 
Mitani  of  Joshi  Gakuin,  and  Mrs.  Hideko  Inoue  of  the 
Japan  Women’s  University  as  promoters.  The  pur¬ 
pose  of  these  leaders,  most  of  whom  are  Christians,  is 


150  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

to  secure  the  combined  efforts  of  educated  women  for 
the  uplift  of  women  in  general.  Lectures  have  been 
given  for  the  development  of  intelligent  opinion  on 
woman’s  problems.* 

4.  Modern  Japanese  Women  in  Business 

Long  before  modern  girls  could  attend  a  commercial 
school  or  take  business  courses,  two  Japanese  women 
had  carved  out  their  careers  as  business  executives  of 
a  high  order.  Mrs.  Yoneko  Suzuki,  now  just  past  her 
seventieth  birthday,  was  left  a  widow  nearly  forty 
years  ago,  with  a  young  son  in  his  teens  to  become 
heir  to  his  father’s  estate  of  half  a  million  yen.  In¬ 
stead  of  settling  down  to  a  life  of  ease,  Mrs.  Suzuki 
decided  to  carry  on  her  husband’s  business.  She  se¬ 
cured  the  services  and  advice  of  able  men  in  its  con¬ 
duct,  steered  it  through  a  crisis  that  involved  some  re¬ 
organization,  and  with  her  cooperators  has  brought  the 
Suzuki  Company  to  a  leading  position  in  commerce  for 
the  manufacture  and  sale  of  oil,  steel,  sugar,  cam¬ 
phor,  flour.  She  has  retired  from  active  work  and 
leads  a  simple  life,  following  her  tastes  for  reading 
and  music.  She  takes  an  interest  in  some  forms  of 
public  service,  especially  in  the  Girls’  Commercial 
School  in  Kobe,  which  she  helped  to  found  and  whose 
running  expenses  for  the  first  five  years  she  assumed. 

•There  is  also  in  Japan  a  branch  of  the  American  Association  of 
University  Women  which  includes  a  number  of  Japanese  women  who 
have  studied  in  America.  It  has  interested  itself  especially  in  select¬ 
ing  suitable  candidates  in  Japan  for  American  scholarships. 


Fields  Where  Women  Have  Succeeded  151 

Madame  Hirooka;  Great  Christian,  Great  Banker 
The  other  woman  was  Madame  Asako  Hirooka.  Of 
the  famous  Mitsui  banker  family,  her  business  instinct 
soon  told  her  that  the  fortunes  of  the  family  into 
which  she  had  married  were  going  to  ruin.  Quite 
contrary  to  the  traditions  for  a  daughter-in-law  or 
wife,  she  asserted  her  determination  to  take  control, 
and  with  a  masculine  degree  of  vigor  and  masterful¬ 
ness  so  conducted  the  business  as  to  insure  success 
and  fortune  and  finally  to  found  a  bank  of  her  own. 
When  she  became  interested  in  Christianity,  Pastor 
Miyagawa  did  not  unduly  smooth  the  way  for  this 
rich  and  influential  woman  to  become  a  member  of  his 
church.  He  made  her  work  for  the  spiritual  enlight¬ 
enment  she  sought,  as  she  had  worked  for  material 
success.  He  taught  her  humility  and  a  spirit  of  meek¬ 
ness  that  her  proud  executive  soul  had  not  known  be¬ 
fore.  When  she  was  baptized  at  about  sixty  years  of 
age,  she  entered  into  Christian  activity  with  the  same 
fervor  that  had  marked  her  business  career.  She 
felt  that  she  must  make  up  for  lost  time.  She  joined 
evangelistic  leaders  on  their  tours  and  added  her 
tribute  of  testimony  to  their  preaching  and  their  ap¬ 
peal.  Nor  was  her  testimony  in  words  only.  The 
softening  and  beautifying  of  her  character  was  plain 
to  employees  who  had  formerly  dreaded  a  sharp  re¬ 
buke  or  harsh  criticism  from  her.  Her  death  in  1919, 
before  she  had  matured  her  plans  for  establishing  a 
Bible  School,  deprived  the  Christian  cause  of  a  strong 
advocate  and  an  evangelistic  agency  from  which  much 


152  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

had  been  hoped.  As  more  and  more  women  enter  the 
commercial  world,  there  will  be  new  opportunities  for 
Christians  among  them  to  demonstrate  Christian 
principles  in  the  acquisition,  control,  and  disburse¬ 
ment  of  money.* 

5.  Modern  Japanese  Women  in  Medicine 

In  the  field  of  medicine  women  have  already  won 
themselves  a  place.  There  are  about  seven  hundred 
Japanese  women  practicing  medicine  in  their  own 
country  and  in  neighboring  countries,  such  as  China, 
Siam,  Burmah,  from  which  a  call  has  come  for  women 
physicians.  Some  of  those  abroad  command  large  in¬ 
comes  for  their  much-desired  services.  These  physi¬ 
cians  have  largely  had  their  training  at  the  Tokyo 
Woman’s  Medical  School,  which  stands  today  as  a 
monument  to  the  heroic  persistence  of  the  woman  who 
founded  and  still  conducts  it.  Mrs.  Yayoi  Yoshioka  is 
herself  a  physician,  having  taken  her  training  some 
thirty  years  ago  at  the  Saisei  Medical  School  in  Tokyo, 
which  was  at  that  time  coeducational.  When  circum¬ 
stances  led  later  to  the  exclusion  of  women  from  that 
school,  Dr.  Washiyama  (as  she  was  then)  was  led  by 
her  sympathy  with  girls  who  wanted  to  study  medicine 
to  the  conviction  that  she  should  start  a  medical  school 
for  women.  The  beginnings  were  small  and  in  the  face 
of  much  financial  difficulty.  Students  were  uninten- 

*“What  shall  I  think  of  Japan?”  by  George  Gleason,  gives  in  the 
chapter  “Can  Japanese  Be  Christians?”  a  short  sketch  of  Madame 
Hirooka;  also  sketches  of  a  number  of  others  mentioned  in  the 
present  book,  namely,  Miss  Michi  Kawai,  Miss  Utako  Hayasbi,  Mr. 
Hampei  Nagao,  Rev.  T.  Miyagawa,  Mr.  T.  Kagawa,  Colonel  Yamamuro. 


Fields  Where  Women  Have  Succeeded  153 

tionally  tested  in  body  and  will  by  having  to  do  their 
heaviest  work  in  the  summer  when  professors  in  men’s 
institutions  were  free  to  render  service  in  this  one.  At 
one  time  as  many  as  thirty  students  had  to  use  one 
microscope.  But  the  leader  had  a  will  that  made  a 
way,  and  after  two  moves  and  one  enlargement  of  site 
it  was  able  in  1908  to  add  to  its  plant  a  hospital  of  its 
own,  and  from  that  step  so  to  increase  its  equipment 
and  efficiency  that  in  1912  it  was  recognized  by  the  De¬ 
partment  of  Education  and  licensed  to  give  degrees. 
The  Alumnae  Association  is  maintaining  some  charity 
wards  and  clinics  in  Tokyo.* 

Dr.  Inouye 

As  there  is  no  Christian  medical  school  in  Japan, 
very  few  of  the  women  physicians  are  Christians.  The 
leading  Christian  woman  in  medicine  is  Miss  Tomoko 
Inouye,  a  graduate  of  Kwassui  College  and  the  Medi¬ 
cal  School  of  the  University  of  Michigan.  Dr.  Inouye 
was  the  Japanese  delegate  to  the  world’s  convention 
of  medical  women  in  New  York  a  few  years  ago  (and 
was  seized  upon  by  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  for  its  “movie” 
on  foot  hygiene !)  She  has  a  private  practice  in  Tokyo, 
besides  being  physician  to  the  Peeresses’  School  and 
giving  lectures  on  hygiene  in  different  parts  of  Japan. 

Two  dental  schools  for  women  have  been  estab¬ 
lished  in  Tokyo,  one  of  which  gives  a  degree,  and  has 
twenty-five  of  its  forty-nine  graduates  now  practicing. 

The  fact  that  the  Japanese  themselves  so  early  es- 

*For  further  information,  see  an  article  by  Professor  Caroline  E. 
Furness  of  Vassar  College  on  “Medical  Opportunities  for  Women  in 
Japan,”  in  the  New  York  Medical  Journal  for  May  15,  1920. 


154  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

tablished  agencies  for  medical  training  lessened  the 
need  for  Christian  missions  to  do  so.  What  little  med¬ 
ical  work  was  started  by  missionaries  in  the  early  years 
has  been  largely  passed  over  to  the  Japanese.  The 
outstanding  Christian  medical  institution  today  is  St. 
Luke’s  Hospital  in  Tokyo,  under  the  American  Episco¬ 
pal  Mission.  From  its  central  location  it  came  to  min¬ 
ister  to  the  needs  of  a  varied  clientele,  including  many 
Americans  and  Europeans.  It  is  now  known  as  St. 
Luke’s  International  Hospital  and  does  a  wide  work. 
One  important  feature  of  it  is  its  high  grade  training 
school  for  nurses. 

6.  Modern  Japanese  Women  in  Philanthropy 

The  work  of  Christian  nurses  in  Japan,  as  every¬ 
where,  is  one  that  brings  the  light  of  God’s  love  to  bear 
upon  human  pain  and  carries  the  comfort  of  Christian¬ 
ity  to  many  a  suffering  heart.  The  great  mass  of  Jap¬ 
anese  nurses  have  received  their  training  under  the  Na¬ 
tional  Red  Cross  Society.  This  great  society — the  first 
modern  nation-wide  organization — was  founded  in 
1877,  and  has  had  a  phenomenal  growth  under  imperial 
patronage,  until  to-day  it  has  a  thirty-million-yen  en¬ 
dowment  and  a  membership  of  one  million  nine  hun¬ 
dred  thousand.  The  nurses  whom  it  has  trained  num¬ 
ber  over  twenty-three  thousand  of  Japan’s  33,000 
nurses.*  As  a  sub-organization  it  conducts  the  Volun¬ 
teer  Nurses’  Association,  whose  members  learn  first- 


*Most  of  the  maternity  work  in  Japan  is  done  by  midwives,  who 
have  a  special  license  distinct  from  that  of  nurse.  There  are  34,000  of 

these  midwives. 


Fields  Where  Women  Have  Succeeded  155 

aid  and  do  bandage-rolling,  etc.,  in  training  for  emer¬ 
gency  service.  This  organization,  dating  from  1887, 
has  done  invaluable  work  during  wars,  promotes  the 
work  of  the  Red  Cross  in  peace  as  well,  and  has  fur¬ 
ther  been  an  important  instrument  in  developing  in 
Japan’s  women  a  social-service  consciousness.  They 
began  to  see  that  there  was  something  that  they,  as 
groups  of  women,  could  do. 

The  Red  Cross  and  Volunteer  Nurses 
It  was  the  China  War  in  1894-5  that  first  stirred  the 
women  to  any  wide  activity.  Christian  women  were  in 
the  forefront.  Miss  Eliza  Talcott  of  the  American 
Board  Mission  did  among  wounded  soldiers  in  the 
Hiroshima  hospitals  a  work  that  won  for  her  the  name 
of  “the  Florence  Nightingale  of  Japan.”  Mrs.  Neesima, 
widow  of  the  celebrated  founder  of  Doshisha  Univer¬ 
sity,  with  a  group  of  loyal  Christian  nurses  from  the 
Doshisha  Nurses’  Training  School  (no  longer  in  ex¬ 
istence),  gave  distinguished  service  of  the  same  kind.* 
A  missionary  wrote  at  that  time :  “The  splendid  work 
of  the  Red  Cross  Society  has  brought  the  idea  of  ‘the 
Cross’  in  some  sense  before  the  nation  that  for  cen¬ 
turies  has  regarded  trampling  on  this  emblem  as  a 
truly  patriotic  act.”  The  membership  of  the  Volun¬ 
teer  Nurses’  Association  is  about  sixteen  thousand. 

•This  type  of  Christian  service  was  carried  out  on  a  much  larger 
scale  during  the  Russian  War.  Many  missionary  women  worked  side 
by  side  with  the  Japanese  in  hospital-visiting  and  in  railroad  stations. 
At  least  one,  Miss  A.  B.  West  (Presbyterian)  of  Tokyo,  was  deco¬ 
rated  by  the  government  in  recognition  of  her  untiring  and  efficient 
helpfulness. 


156  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

Its  honorary  president  is  Princess  Kanin  and  its  chair¬ 
man  is  Marchioness  Nabeshima. 

Marchioness  Nabeshima,  Social  Worker 

The  marchioness  is  a  leader  of  women's  activities  in 
the  lines  first  developed,  being  likewise  chairman  of  the 
Japan  Woman’s  Educational  Association,  and  of  the 
Woman’s  Union  Children’s  Aid  Society,  which  main¬ 
tains  a  charity  hospital  for  poor  children  and  has  vari¬ 
ous  workers  for  children  living  in  different  districts  of 
Tokyo;  and  also  of  the  Taisho  Fujinkwai,  a  modern 
woman’s  organization  with  distinctly  progressive  aims. 
This  society  deserves  mention  for  what  is  accomplished 
to  promote  an  interest  in  social  welfare.  On  account 
of  the  prominence  of  many  of  the  women  connected 
with  it,  its  doings  have  received  much  publicity  and 
have  helped  to  educate  public  opinion.  One  activity 
has  been  to  secure  the  opening  of  private  grounds  for 
children’s  play;  when  children  of  the  nobility  mingled 
there  in  play  with  little  boys  and  girls  from  the  slums, 
and  the  newspapers  wrote  it  up,  people  began  to  take 
notice  and  to  comment.  Said  a  missionary  woman  who 
belongs  to  the  organization,  “It  is  a  small  work,  but 
most  things  are.  I  never  go  to  the  committee  meetings 
that  I  don’t  feel  sorry  I  don’t  give  more  time  to  it,  and 
we  never  have  the  children  out  for  some  good  time 
without  being  glad  we  are  doing  as  much  as  we  are.” 

There  are  a  number  of  modern  women  who  are  do¬ 
ing  constructive  thinking  along  lines  of  social  better¬ 
ment.  Mrs.  Kikue  Yamakawa,  a  graduate  of  Miss 


Fields  Where  Women  Have  Succeeded  157 

Tsuda’s  English  College  and  a  student  of  sociology, 
though  not  strong  of  body,  is  a  persistent  fighter  for 
socialism,  working  hand  in  hand  with  her  husband  in 
publishing  a  socialist  magazine.  Her  husband  has  been 
imprisoned  more  than  once  for  too  free  utterance  of 
socialistic  doctrines,  but  that  does  not  dampen  the  ar¬ 
dor  of  either  of  them.  She  has  written  several  books 
and  essays  on  woman  problems  and  social  questions, 
and  has  the  reputation  of  being  the  most  animated  of 
the  women  critics  of  today. 

A  Self-made  Publicist,  Mrs.  Yamada 
One  self-made  woman  of  wide  reputation  is  Mrs. 
Wakako  Yamada,  a  farmer’s  daughter,  who  had  but 
four  years  of  elementary  schooling  in  her  childhood. 
When  about  twenty  she  went  to  America  as  a  laborer, 
and  tasted  the  dregs  of  life  as  well  as  some  of  its  high¬ 
est  experiences  during  her  six  years  there.  Fleeing 
from  the  world  of  passion  into  a  church,  she  first 
learned  about  Christianity  and  later  embraced  it,  find¬ 
ing  in  it  great  joy  and  peace.  She  gave  it  up,  however, 
in  connection  with  her  marriage  to  a  man,  self-made 
like  herself,  who  had  spent  twenty-five  years  in  work 
and  study  in  America.  Her  life  had  been  so  hard  that 
at  the  time  of  her  marriage  she  barely  remembered 
how  to  write  the  Japanese  alphabet;  under  her  hus¬ 
band’s  tutelage  she  practiced  and  studied,  until  she 
became  by  force  of  perseverance  one  of  the  leading 
writers  on  women’s  problems.  “Sex  Education  and 
the  Liberation  of  Woman,”  “The  Social  Meaning  of 
Love,”  “The  Theory  and  Practice  of  the  Eight-Hour 


158  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

Day”  are  titles  of  some  of  her  works.  She  is  one  of  the 
leaders  of  the  New  Woman’s  Society. 

The  founder  of  the  New  Woman’s  Society  was 
Miss  (or  Mrs.)  Akiko  Hiratsuka,  (literary  name 
“Raicho”).  The  society  started  in  1919  and  has  in  its 
program  of  endeavor  many  lines  that  are  provoking 
effort  among  progressive  women  in  other  countries, — 
such  as  woman  suffrage,  the  repeal  of  laws  disadvan¬ 
tageous  to  women,  protection  of  motherhood,  forma¬ 
tion  of  women’s  labor  unions.  This  organization  aided 
in  accomplishing  the  repeal  in  1922  of  the  law  prohibit¬ 
ing  women  from  taking  part  in  political  meetings,  and 
with  its  magazine,  “Woman’s  League,”  does  much  of 
the  agitating  for  woman  suffrage.  Miss  Hiratsuka,  for¬ 
merly  a  student  in  the  Japan  Women’s  University,  is  an 
undoubtedly  able  woman,  but  her  attitude  on  certain 
moral  questions  has  not  only  brought  on  her  the  cen¬ 
sure  of  her  alma  mater,  but  has  prejudiced  some 
women  against  the  cause  which  she  represents. 

Other  progressive  women  are  Baroness  Ishimoto  . 
and  Mrs  Koko  Tanaka.  Mrs.  Tanaka,  a  graduate 
first  of  the  Japan  Women’s  University,  and  then  of 
Leland  Stanford,  with  an  M.  A.  from  Chicago  for 
study  along  sociological  lines,  was  Japan’s  woman 
delegate  to  the  International  Labor  Conference  at 
Washington  in  1920.  Baroness  Ishimoto  has  a  first¬ 
hand  knowledge  of  labor  conditions  in  Japan’s  mines, 
as  she  accompanied  her  husband  during  the  three 
years  that  he  spent  as  a  practical  miner  in  Kyushu; 
though  not  nominally  Christians,  their  interest  in  the 


Fields  Where  Women  Have  Succeeded  159 

way  the  submerged  tenth  lives,  and  in  the  improve¬ 
ment  of  the  conditions  of  the  poor  and  blighted,  is  the 
definite  product  of  contact  with  the  Bible  and  Chris¬ 
tians.  They  are  among  the  most  active  promoters  of 
the  birth  control  movement,  not  yet  organized,  but  al¬ 
ready  stirring  in  Japan,  and  are  giving  themselves  to 
extend  its  influence.  The  baroness  had  a  paper  at  the 
World’s  Conference  in  London,  and  has  done  a  con¬ 
siderable  amount  of  translating  of  pertinent  works. 

7.  Modern  Japanese  Women  in  Patriotic  Service 

The  largest  woman’s  organization  in  Japan — and 
also  in  the  Orient — is  the  Women’s  Patriotic  Society, 
now  about  twenty  years  old  and  numbering  over  a  mil¬ 
lion  members.  Like  most  great  movements,  it  owes 
its  existence  and  prosperity  to  one  outstanding  person¬ 
ality.  Mrs.  Ioko  Okumura,  born  in  1845,  was  daugh¬ 
ter,  sister,  and  widow  of  Buddhist  priests,  in  a  family 
descended  from  court  nobles  and  imbued  with  the  an¬ 
cient  spirit  of  loyalty  to  the  Emperor.  She  was  taught 
from  her  earliest  days  that  even  a  woman  must  be 
willing  to  give  her  life,  if  need  be,  for  her  country. 
While  still  a  young  girl,  she  showed  herself  ready  for 
larger  things  by  undertaking  long  journeys  on  impor¬ 
tant  business  for  the  priests  of  her  family  temple.  On 
these  journeys  she  dressed  as  a  man,  with  divided  skirt 
and  two  swords,  and  always  carried  out  her  commis¬ 
sions  successfully.  Her  second  marriage  having 
ended  disastrously  in  divorce  and  separation  from  her 
three  children,  she  threw  herself  whole-souledly  into 


160  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

work  for  her  country,  campaigning  vigorously  in  the 
election  of  members  to  the  first  parliament  in  1889.  To 
improve  relations  between  Japan  and  Korea,  even  in 
those  years  before  the  occupation,  she  promoted  a 
movement  by  which  her  priest-brother  was  sent  to 
that  country  as  a  missionary;  there  she  joined  him 
later  and  established  an  industrial  school  for  Koreans. 

Mrs.  Okumura  Founds  "Women's  Patriotic  Society 
Mrs.  Okumura’s  activities  began  to  attract  the  at¬ 
tention  of  the  Imperial  Court.  She  was  given  an 
audience  by  imperial  princesses,  and  later  commis¬ 
sioned  by  Prince  Konoe  to  visit  southern  China  and 
report  on  conditions  there.  On  the  outbreak  of  the 
Boxer  Rebellion  in  1900,  she  moved  the  Hongwanji 
Sect  to  send  a  party  of  Buddhist  chaplains  to  the  Ja¬ 
panese  army  in  North  China.  Joining  the  party  her¬ 
self,  she  acquired  on  the  field  a  first-hand  knowledge 
of  war  conditions.  Her  work  for  the  dead  and 
wounded  so  revealed  to  her  the  need  of  aid  for  their 
families  that  she  returned  to  Japan  resolved  to  devote 
herself  to  the  promotion  of  an  agency  for  their  relief. 
Securing  the  patronage  of  two  princesses  and  other 
prominent  persons,  she  organized  in  1901  the  Wom¬ 
en’s  Patriotic  Society.  She  followed  this  beginning 
with  a  large  promotion  work,  stumping  Japan  and 
making  over  three  hundred  addresses  on  behalf  of 
the  organization.  Her  success  was  pronounced.  The 
society  through  its  many  branches  in  all  Japan  fur¬ 
nishes  relief  for  invalided  soldiers,  conducts  a  work- 
house  for  those  partly  disabled,  and  provides  aid  for 


FREE  CHRISTIAN  CLINIC  HELD  DAILY  IN  YOKOHAMA 


Fields  Where  Women  Have  Succeeded  161 

their  families  and  education  for  soldiers’  orphans.  In 
war-times  it  was  especially  active ;  but  in  recent  years 
it  has  seen  its  patriotic  opportunity  to  be  broader  than 
work  for  soldiers  and  has  branched  cut  into  other 
forms  of  relief  work.  Mrs.  Okumura  died  in  1907  in 
her  sixty-third  year,  having  lived  to  see  the  effective 
work  of  her  women  during  the  Russian  War. 

Women’s  Patriotic  Christian  Work 

Many  Christian  women  are  members  of  the 
Women’s  Patriotic  Society.  They  are  helping  demon¬ 
strate  that  Christianity  is  not  inimical  to  patriotic 
works  of  service  and  sacrifice.  At  times  Christian 
women  have  been  able  to  furnish  just  the  needed 
leadership  for  the  expression  of  the  spirit  of  service. 
An  example  ocurred  in  Kobe  during  the  Russian 
War.  The  Kobe  branch  of  the  Women’s  Patriotic 
Society,  in  conjunction  with  the  local  city  woman’s 
club,  was  ready  to  undertake  something  for  social 
service.  Mrs.  Foss,  the  wife  of  the  Anglican  bishop, 
told  the  ladies  about  the  creche  movement  in  the  West, 
and  urged  the  establishment  in  Kobe  of  day-nurseries 
for  the  children  of  men  at  the  front  whose  wives  went 
out  daily  to  work  in  shop  or  factory. 

The  Japanese  ladies  became  interested  and  enthusi¬ 
astic,  but  a  second  conference  showed  the  influence  of  a 
wet-blanket.  Some  of  the  husbands  had  counseled 
caution  from  the  fear  that  the  women  would  attempt 
more  than  they  could  carry  through  and  thus  make  a 
laughing-stock  of  themselves.  But  Mrs.  Foss  believed 
that  they  could  succeed,  and  made  them  believe  it.  She 


162  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

secured  from  the  English  and  American  women  of  the 
city  pledges  for  the  support  of  one  creche  for  the  period 
of  the  war.  With  this  stimulus  and  her  inspiring  co¬ 
operation,  the  Japanese  women  went  to  work  and 
founded  four  more  creches  in  needy  parts  of  the  city. 
Far  from  having  been  a  laughing-stock,  they  have 
opened  up  new  visions  of  social  service  to  their  fellow- 
citizens. 

All  but  one  of  these  creches  are  continuing  to-day. 
The  one  for  which  Mrs.  Foss  assumed  responsibility 
has  always  been  Christian.  Although  in  a  very  depraved 
part  of  the  city,  where  children  breathe  in  from  their 
earliest  days  the  atmosphere  of  fighting  and  thieving, 
it  has  been  able  to  make  a  real  impression  for  good. 
People  in  other  places  of  responsibility  admit  and  ad¬ 
mire  the  power  of  the  devoted  Christian  woman  who 
has  it  in  charge. 

The  statistics  of  the  Home  Department  of  the  gov¬ 
ernment  state  that  there  are  6,369  local  woman’s  or¬ 
ganizations  in  Japan.  New  organizations  for  women 
are  being  launched  every  few  months,  signs  of  the  new 
longings  and  new  ideals  that  are  striving  for  expression. 
The  recent  ones  sound  all  the  notes  found  in  the  post- 
bellum  woman’s  movements  of  other  lands.  All  of 
them  offer  a  great  opening  for  the  leadership  of  the 
Christian  woman. 

SELECTIONS 

Illustrative  of  the  spirit  of  consecrated  adventure  that  is 
beginning  to  animate  the  Christian  girls  of  Japan  is  the  fol¬ 
lowing  vacation  diary.  Three  students  of  the  Woman’s  Chris- 


Fields  Where  Women  Have  Succeeded  163 

tian  College  applied  to  Mr.  Kagawa  to  be  allowed  to  utilize 
their  holidays  by  helping  in  his  slum  settlement  and  learning 
all  they  could  by  observation.  This  vivid  account  of  their 
experiences  was  published  in  the  college  magazine,  and  has 
been  translated  and  slightly  abridged  for  use  here: 

Among  the  Poor. 

Dec.  17,  1921. 

The  more  I  sharpen  the  sword  of  reflection,  the  more  mis¬ 
erable  I  feel  with  my  egotistic  life.  An  insistent  impulse 
urges  me  to  go  out  of  my  idle  life  and  do  something  for 
others.  I  want  to  give  a  hard  test  to  my  inconsistent  self 
that  is  always  building  castles  in  the  air.  And  so  this  feeling 
of  mine  and  Mr.  K.’s  permission  led  me  to  decide  to  pass  the 
winter  vacation — in  the  slums  in  Kobe. 

Dec.  18. 

We  had  the  pleasure  of  being  met  by  Mr.  K.  with  a  taxi¬ 
cab  ready  to  take  us  to  our  destination.  The  auto  stopped 
in  front  of  the  building  of  the  Jesus  Band  (Yesu  Dan)  of  the 
Shinkawa  slums.  Women  and  children  gathered  around  us. 
As  it  was  Sunday  morning,  the  building  was  crowded  with 
Sunday  School  children.  It  was  exactly  as  I  had  imagined. 
The  children  were  not  neat.  Very  few  of  them  had  clean 
faces  or  had  their  hair  combed  nicely;  their  clothes  were 
dirty.  Not  a  few  had  bad  boils  on  their  heads  and  faces.  But, 
as  we  mixed  with  them  and  sang  together,  gradually  I  came 
to  feel  their  precious  value.  They  are  like  gold  wrapped  in 
rags.  They  sang  cheerfully. 

We  walked  to  Mr.  K.’s  house,  one  of  those  tenement 
houses.  The  seven-mat  room  was  the  one  given  to  ourselves. 

At  3  p.  m.  we  left  the  house  for  the  poorest  section  of  the 
slums  with  bean-tickets  to  be  distributed  among  the  people 
there.  We  went  round  to  forty  or  fifty  houses.  The  nar¬ 
row  alleys  between  the  houses  were  filthy,  as  the  water 
drained  badly.  It  was  surprising  to  see  such  a  large  number 
of  people  ill  or  deformed.  Many  one-eyed  blind  men !  People 


164  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

with  only  one  foot  or  one  arm,  and  people  without  noses. 
Inside  the  dark  rooms,  weak,  pale  invalids  were  seen  lying 
helplessly  on  the  floor.  The  most  miserable  sight  presented 
to  our  eyes  was  an  old  man  lying  in  a  house  half  falling  over. 
We  went  in  and  said,  “Ojii  San  (old  man,)  come  with  this 
ticket  to  the  Jesus  Band  today  for  your  share  of  beans.”  The 
smell  of  the  room  was  unbearable.  The  old  man  was  nib¬ 
bling  at  a  rotten  brown  persimmon.  His  skin  did  not  look 
that  of  a  human  being . 

“I  am  not  well  and  can’t  move,”  said  the  old  man.  .  .  . 

“All  right,  we  will  ask  your  neighbor  to  get  your  share  of 
beans,”  we  answered,  and  went  out. 

A  feeling  of  loneliness  came  over  us  to  see  a  man  doomed 
to  live  this  miserable  life,  and  we  could  not  help  praying  for 
this  friend. 

The  evening  brought  many  friends  to  our  door.  Old  and 
young,  lame  men  with  crutches,  blind  men  led  by  children; 
each  eager  for  his  share.  Two  sho  (three  quarts)  was  the 
share  for  each.  One  put  the  beans  in  a  gray  bag,  another  in 
a  basket,  another  in  the  skirt  of  his  kimono,  and  so  on.  Some 
brought  their  neighbors  and  said, 

“Please  give  my  neighbor  some  beans,”  or 

“My  next-door  neighbor  was  away  and  did  not  get  a  ticket.” 
I  like  the  kind,  warm  feeling  among  the  poor. 

In  the  evening  we  acompanied  a  street-preacher.  On  our 
return  we  had  prayers. 

The  stars  are  beautiful,  especially  when  viewed  from  the 
alley  of  the  slums;  they  are  poetry  itself,  joy  itself. 

Dec.  24. 

We  started  to  sing  in  bed.  Mr.  K.  over  in  his  room  joined 
in.  A  woman  who  lives  across  the  alley  greeted  us  with 
“Good  morning.”  We  went  out  in  the  chilly  air  to  a  common 
hydrant  for  water.  The  hills  yonder  were  still  wrapped  in 
mist  and  seemed  to  be  in  deep  sleep.  We  set  to  work  cheer¬ 
fully  in  order  to  get  ready  for  the  Christmas  celebrations  that 


Fields  Where  Women  Have  Succeeded  165 

were  to  be  held  on  the  twenty-fifth,  twenty-sixth,  and  twenty- 
seventh. 

It  is  just  twelve  years  since  Mr.  and  Mrs.  K.  began  their 
work  here  in  the  slums.  After  supper  we  sat  around  the 
brazier,  and  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  K.  told  us  about  their  experi¬ 
ences.  A  sad  feeling  came  over  us  to  think  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
K.  just  twelve  years  ago  tonight  when  they  first  came  to  this 
place  and  had  to  go  to  bed  in  the  dark  without  any  fire  to  get 
warm  with. 

Suddenly  there  appeared  at  the  door  a  fierce  man.  He  is 
named  Matsui,  and  reputed  to  be  a  bad  man  in  the  neighbor¬ 
hood.  He  was  drunken,  and  as  usual  he  came  to  ask  for  mon¬ 
ey.  While  the  man  spoke  in  violent  and  abusive  language, 
Mr.  K.  stood  still  with  hands  in  his  pockets  and  with  mouth 
and  eyes  closed.  The  villain  raged  and  raged.  He  walked 
up  to  Mr.  K.  and  thrust  a  letter  in  his  pocket,  and  after  re¬ 
peating,  “You  must  answer  in  three  days;  if  not,  I’ll  kill  you,” 
he  walked  away.  .  .  .  We  were  struck  by  the  dignity  and 
strength  of  positive  power  produced  by  the  non-resistance 
principle.  In  silence  we  were  taught  the  spirit  of  patience 
born  of  prayer  and  love. 

The  night  in  the  slums  is  almost  fearsomely  silent. 

Dec.  26. 

We  kept  quite  busy  during  the  day  getting  ready  for  the 
Christmas  celebration  that  was  going  to  be  held  in  the  eve¬ 
ning.  But  work  itself  is  a  joy.  We  really  learned  the  happi¬ 
ness  of  those  who  enjoy  self-sacrificing  work  for  others. 

In  the  evening  when  I  was  sweeping  in  Kikuno  Tei,  a  small 
theatre  that  was  rented  for  the  Christmas  celebration,  a  little 
bare-footed  girl  of  about  ten  years  of  age  stole  in  from  the 
entrance.  She  grasped  two  or  three  oranges  from  the  box 
and  ran  away.  I  was  startled  and  stood  petrified  with  broom 
in  hand.  It  made  me  sad  to  know  that  such  terrible  skill 
in  evil  was  already  developing  in  that  little  soul.  It  is  too 
bad  that  the  pure  soul  of  a  child  can  not  grow  up  without 


166  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

being  hurt  by  the  poverty  and  evil  that  surround  it.  I  prayed 
to  the  Great  Power  especially  for  that  unfortunate  child. 

The  Christmas  celebration  began  at  seven.  Five  or  six 
hundred  children,  of  whom  about  two  hundred  were  Sunday 
School  children,  came.  They  were  just  as  noisy  as  so  many 
sparrows.  No  one  who  was  not  there  can  imagine  how 
noisy  they  were.  I  was  afraid  my  head  would  split.  But 
when  the  program  began,  they  behaved  pretty  well.  In  spite 
of  their  poor  clothes,  they  stood  on  the  platform  with  bright, 
cheerful  faces  and  sang  and  recited.  The  whole  scene  moved 
us  to  tears.  We  felt  that  those  children  were  so  near  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven,  and  that  we  too  could  step  heavenward 
with  them.  We  felt  our  ugly  shells  come  off  and  wanted  to 
sing  with  them  and  be  glad  with  them.  I  thought  that  this 
was  the  greatest  blessing  that  the  life  in  the  slums  could  give 
us.  We  went  home  at  twelve  after  clearing  up  the  place.  As 
usual  we  sat  around  the  brazier  and  were  treated  to  Mr.  K.’s 
favorite  shippuku  (boiled  vermicelli  with  hashed  fish  and 
vegetables). 

These  happy  evening  gatherings  make  me  a  child  once 
more.  I  can  feel  a  joy  like  that  of  the  angel  in  Blake’s  pic¬ 
ture,  flying  toward  the  bright  light  of  Heaven. 


OUTLINE  OF  CHAPTER  SIX 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  in  Japan 


1.  Telling  and  Teaching. 

2.  Fighting  Vice,  War,  and  Disease. 

3.  Reconstructing  and  Awakening. 


CHAPTER  SIX 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  in  Japan 

Whereunto  shall  I  liken  the  kingdom  of  God? 

It  is  like  leaven,  which  a  woman  took  and  hid  in  three 
measures  of  meal,  till  the  whole  was  leavened. 

Luke  13:  20,  21. 

1.  Telling  and  Teaching 

“Haven't  you  a  story  for  me  to  tell  the  American 
women  ?”  said  I  to  Zako  San.  Readers  of  Dr.  Gulick’s 
“Working  Women  of  Japan”  will  remember  the  story 
of  the  little  invalid  who  was  saved  from  the  career  of 
a  geisha  by  the  severe  attack  of  rheumatism  that  crip¬ 
pled  her  for  life,  who  in  the  midst  of  suffering,  neglect 
and  despair  was  led  by  friends  to  Christ,  and  who  has 
since  been  an  inspirer  of  Christian  faith  and  courage 
in  multitudes  of  shut-ins  whom  she  has  never  seen,  but 
to  whom  while  lying  on  her  back  she  writes  with  her 
deformed  hand  messages  of  joy  and  comfort  in  the 
Holy  Spirit.  She  earns  her  livelihood  by  directing  a 
little  store. 

“Yes,”  she  said,  “wouldn’t  they  like  to  hear  about 
Seisaburo  San?”  And  she  hitched  herself  around  a 
little  on  her  bed  to  see  me  better,  and  told  me  with  face 
aglow  the  story  of  a  very  humble  Christian  in  a  coun¬ 
try  place  some  seventy  miles  away.  “He  is  only  twenty 


169 


170  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

years  old,  and  probably  dying  now  of  Bright’s  disease 
and  beriberi,  with  complications  that  have  been  grow¬ 
ing  in  him  these  three  years.  His  mother  is  dead,  and 
his  father,  a  heavy  drinker,  has  let  things  on  the  farm 
go  to  ruin.  For  a  while  an  older  sister,  who  happened 
to  be  a  nurse  and  a  Christian,  left  her  husband  at  his 
post  in  Korea  and  came  back  with  her  small  baby  to 
take  care  of  this  brother.  She  nursed  him  tenderly 
and  told  him  about  Christianity.  She  scrimped  on  her 
own  food  allowance  from  her  husband,  in  order  to 
buy  milk  for  the  invalid.  Her  husband  bought  fifty 
chickens  for  him,  so  that  the  eggs  might  furnish  a 
little  income  as  well  as  food.  The  drinking  father  sold 
them  all  for  sake.  The  kindly  Christian  doctor  of  the 
village  gave  him  free  treatment  and  free  medicine. 

“This  man  began  to  correspond  with  me  a  few  years 
ago.  His  sister’s  influence  had  led  him  to  want  to  be  a 
Christian.  In  one  of  his  letters  he  told  me  he  wished 
to  be  baptized,  but  he  didn’t  feel  it  would  be  right  to 
join  a  church  if  he  couldn’t  pay  anything  towards  its 
support.  Well,  it  just  happened  that  a  Christian  man 
had  recently  brought  me  five  yen  to  be  used  for  some 
good  purpose.  I  told  Seisaburo  to  use  that  for  two 
years  for  his  church  subscription  at  fifteen  sen  a 
month,  and  then  the  rest  was  to  be  for  buying  milk. 
And  so  he  was  baptized.  Then  has  followed  test  after 
test  of  his  faith.  The  Christian  sister  had  to  go  back 
to  Korea.  Her  husband  wouldn’t  send  any  more 
money  for  the  brother  because  the  father  always  used 
it  for  drink.  I  sent  some  once  that  went  the  same  way, 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  171 


but  now  I  have  found  out  how  to  do  it.  About  five 
miles  away  is  the  Ayabe  Silk  Spinning  mill.  You 
know,  that  factory  is  under  Christian  management, 
and  has  such  a  fine  reputation  that  parents  who  were 
leaving  to  be  away  a  while  have  been  known  to  send 
their  daughters  there  just  to  feel  they  were  in  a  safe 
place.*  There  were  in  this  factory  two  Christian  girls 
from  Seisahuro’s  village,  and  they  sometimes  walked 
home  for  over  holidays,  and  went  to  see  him  and  take 
him  a  gift  of  some  of  their  savings.  So  now  I  send 
them  every  month  three  yen  for  him,  and  they  break 
it  up  into  ten-sen  pieces  for  his  convenience  and  carry 
it  to  him.  Another  sister  is  at  home  with  him  now, 
but  she  is  not  a  Christian  and  gives  but  little  service, 
grudgingly.  It  is  very  bitter  for  him.  The  only  things 
that  make  life  endurable  are  his  Christian  faith  and 
the  loving  ministrations  of  Christian  friends.” 

As  the  Gospel  of  old  was  carried  by  fisherman, 
housewife,  tax-collector,  physician,  scholar,  so  now  it 
is  still  preached  through  Christian  storekeeper,  nurse, 
doctor,  factory-girl.  It  is  the  individual  touch  through 
which  multitudes  of  Christian  women  are  making  their 
influence  felt.  ‘'My  daughter’s  prayers  have  been 
answered,”  said  a  friend  to  me  two  months  ago.  “Her 
husband  is  to  be  baptized  next  Sunday.”  They  had 
been  married  some  twelve  years;  the  consistent  in¬ 
fluence  of  the  Christian  wife  and  mother  had  made 

*The  director  of  the  social  welfare  work  at  this  factory,  Mr.  Shinsui 
Kawai,  is  a  Christian  minister  who  felt  called  to  this  form  of  work. 
He  was  the  nominee  with  first  place  for  labor  delegate  from  Japan  to 
the  World’s  Labor  Conference  in  Geneva  in  1922. 


172  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

the  background  for  the  evangelist’s  appeal  to  the  man 
during  a  long  convalescence  from  a  dangerous  illness. 

Work  of  Bible  Women 

The  organized  work  for  individual  women  is  gener¬ 
ally  done  by  Bible  women,  trained  for  about  three 
years  in  evangelistic  schools.  The  1922  “Christian 
Movement”  enumerates  ten  Protestant  training 
schools,  under  as  many  different  missions,  in  places 
scattered  from  Sendai  to  Nagasaki,  with  a  total  enrol¬ 
ment  of  227  women.  The  smallest  has  three  pupils, 
the  largest  eighty-five.  Two  of  these  schools  are  to  be 
united  in  1923.  The  oldest  is  the  Woman’s  Evangelis¬ 
tic  School  of  the  American  Board  Mission,  established 
in  1880.  Miss  Martha  J.  Barrows,  its  pioneer  mission¬ 
ary  of  forty-three  years  of  service,  tells  us  the  story 
of  one  of  the  many  successful  women  workers  that 
schools  like  hers  have  sent  out. 

“One  day  a  letter  came  from  a  pastor  in  the  north 
asking  for  admission  for  a  young  woman  he  knew. 
There  was  not  much  detail,  but  we  wrote  she  might 
come,  and  then  on  her  arrival  were  dismayed  to  find 
that  she  was  below  our  age  limit  (Bible  women  have 
to  have  a  certain  number  of  years  behind  them  to  give 
them  safe  standing  and  respect)  and  had  not  had  the 
required  preliminary  education.  But,  as  she  was  an 
orphan  who  had  run  away  from  her  guardian’s  home 
very  early  one  morning  in  order  to  escape  being  mar¬ 
ried — which  she  was  very  loath  to  be — and  as  she  had 
come  a  long  way  and  with  a  pastor’s  introduction,  we 
let  her  in  on  conditions  that  she  should  take  four  years 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  173 

to  graduate  instead  of  three.  But  we  soon  began  to 
discover  that  she  was  unusual.  She  had  great  per¬ 
severance  in  making  up  her  inadequate  preparation 
and  kept  at  her  work  vigorously.  She  even  kept  up 
her  study  after  graduation  and  developed  special  tal¬ 
ent  in  letter-writing, — all  for  use  in  her  Christian 
work.  And  even  early  in  her  student  days  we  noticed 
her  prayers ;  they  were  remarkable  for  their  spiritual 
quality. 

A  Church  Fifty  Miles  Long 

“After  her  long  training,  including  much  field-work, 
she  started  her  professional  work  in  the  Tamba 
Church,  ‘the  church  fifty  miles  long’  so-called  because 
the  five  church  buildings  scattered  through  that  coun¬ 
try  district  are  all  parts  of  the  one  organization.  The 
work  there  had  been  begun  some  years  before  by  a 
Bible-seller,  who  had  won  the  first  converts  in  the  dis¬ 
trict  and  knew  every  one  at  all  interested.  He  intro¬ 
duced  the  Bible  woman  to  the  whole  field,  and  she 
walked  from  place  to  place  visiting  homes  and  holding 
meetings,  and  getting  acquainted  with  everything 
bearing  on  the  work.  Some  places  she  visited  every 
week.  I  toured  there  every  fall  and  spring,  and  she 
always  came  to  meet  me,  accompanying  me  from  house 
to  house,  always  priming  me  beforehand  on  the  person 
we  were  about  to  visit  and  telling  his  or  her  special 
need  or  circumstances.  If  I  was  of  any  use  to  the 
work  there  in  Tamba,  I  owe  it  more  to  her  than  to  any 
one  else. 

“Once  when  she  was  to  cross  a  mountain  range  to 


174  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

meet  me,  she  started  out  forgetting  her  breakfast; 

* 

overcome  with  weakness,  she  crawled  part  of  the 
way,  then  recollecting  her  omission  and  recognizing 
hunger  as  the  cause  of  her  faintness,  she  crept  on  to  a 
house  where  she  asked  for  something  to  eat;  they 
replied  that  there  was  nothing,  so  she  struggled  on 
until  she  reached  me  late  in  the  evening.  That  was 
characteristic  of  her  power  to  forget  herself.  A  new 
pastor  with  an  invalid  wife  came  to  the  church.  The 
wife  died  and  in  due  time  he  sought  the  Bible  woman 
in  marriage.  But,  as  in  girlhood,  so  still,  the  thought 
of  marriage  was  alien  to  her,  and  she  left  Tamba  to 
return  as  matron  to  her  alma  mater.  In  time,  how¬ 
ever,  true  and  persistent  love  won ;  they  were  married. 
She  has  made  her  home  as  great  a  success  as  her  field¬ 
work  in  the  city  church  where  they  are  now  laboring. 
She  is  a  rare  pastor’s  wife,  unselfish,  untiring,  always 
helpful  in  time  of  trouble,  sought  not  so  much  for 
what  she  says  as  for  what  she  is.” 

Publishing  the  Tidings 

Such  is  one  of  the  many  Bible  women  in  Japan 
whose  spiritual  children  rise  up  and  call  them  blessed. 
And  besides  them  the  volunteer  women  that  publish 
the  tidings  are  a  great  host — especially  in  Sunday 
School  and  in  women’s  study  groups.  The  crying 
need  is  for  more  training  for  these  volunteers.  The 
Japan  Sunday  School  Association  has  established,  to 
meet  this  need,  a  summer  institute  which,  beginning 
in  1916,  has  met  every  summer  in  Karuizawa  to  fur¬ 
nish  elements  of  needed  knowledge  to  present  or  pro- 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  175 

spective  Sunday  School  workers.  Through  this  same 
association  the  Daily  Vacation  Bible  School  Movement 
has  gotten  well  started  in  Japan.  In  1921  eighteen 
such  schools  were  conducted,  twelve  in  Tokyo  alone. 

Woman’s  direct  religious  work  has  further  reached 
out  beyond  its  local  church  and  town  with  a  definite 
expansion  in  the  formation  of  women’s  missionary  so¬ 
cieties  in  all  of  the  larger  denominations.  Their  work 
is  of  two  types,  helping  some  weak  local  group  of 
Christians  or  would-be  Christians  by  supporting  a 
worker  or  giving  a  grant  in  aid ;  or  going  to  colonial 
territory,  as  in  Formosa  and  Korea,  to  work  for  their 
fellow-countrymen  there.  This  missionary  work  is 
doing  much  to  develop  the  spiritual  resources  of  the 
Christian  women. 

Power  of  Hymns 

One  of  woman’s  best  religious  tools  is  music.  It 
is  hard  to  estimate  the  influence  that  Christian  hymns 
have  had  in  attracting  inquirers  and  in  impressing  the 
Christian  message.  A  boy  who  had  gone  to  Tokyo 
from  the  Tottori  Night  School  afterward  wrote  back 
to  his  friends  there  of  his  new  appreciation  of  its 
chapel  service  and  of  the  music. 

He  told  very  frankly  of  some  of  the  temptations  that 
faced  Middle  School  boys  and  how  he  had  gone  the 
way  of  the  others  until  he  went  into  the  Night  School 
and  sang,  “Jesus,  tender  shepherd,  lead  us,”  or  “Sweet 
hour  of  prayer,”  when  suddenly  the  awfulness  of  his 
present  mode  of  life  and  the  wonderful  strength  and 
beauty  of  what  he  might  be  flashed  over  him.  He 


176  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

could  think  of  nothing  else  that  night  and  went  back 
to  his  room  unable  to  sleep. 

To  increase  the  use  of  Christian  music,  all  mission 
schools  for  girls  have  special  facilities  for  learning  to 
play  the  reed  organ,  if  nothing  more,  and  in  at  least 
four  of  them  diploma  courses  in  music  are  offered.  A 
great  increase  of  sacred  music  for  church  use  is  need¬ 
ed.  for  appreciation  of  western  music  is  rapidly  grow¬ 
ing  through  the  visits  of  musicians  from  abroad  and 
through  the  popularity  of  the  phonograph.  There  is 
in  every  church  latent  musical  talent  waiting  for  the 
leader’s  baton.  An  attempt  or  two  to  start  a  school  of 
sacred  music  has  hitherto  failed,  but  it  is  hoped  that 
such  a  school  now  being  planned  by  a  group  of  Chris¬ 
tians  in  Osaka  may  succeed. 

Christian  Kindergartens 

Another  of  woman’s  effective  tools  is  the  kindergar¬ 
ten.  It  knows  no  distinctions  and  serves  all  classes. 
There  are  Christian  kindergartens  that  draw  from  the 
most  cultured  homes ;  there  are  those  serving  the  stur¬ 
dy  middle  classes,  and  there  are  those  in  slum  districts 
where  the  children,  dirty  and  uncouth,  are  not  even 
recognized  as  potential  citizens  because  their  parents, 
whether  legally  married  or  not,  have  never  taken  the 
trouble  to  have  them  registered.  It  may  be  partly  out 
of  ignorance,  partly  out  of  poverty,  making  even  the 
small  fees  necessary  a  burden.  As  children  without  a 
seki  (registration)  are  not  admitted  to  public  schools, 
it  is  one  of  the  first  efforts  of  the  Christian  worker  in 
such  neighborhoods  to  interest  parents  and  children 


MISS  MICHI  KAWAI  AND 
HER  MOTHER 

In  the  Garden  of  Their  Old  Home  in  Ise 


, 


■ 


, 


■ 

. 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  177 

alike  in  getting  the  seki.  Sometimes  the  children  suc¬ 
ceed  with  the  parents  when  the  outsider  does  not.  The 
Free  Zenrin  Kindergarten  (Baptist)  in  Kobe  had  tri¬ 
umphantly  succeeded  in  getting  its  first  graduating 
class  all  registered — in  fact,  it  would  graduate  no  child 
who  was  not  registered.  The  group  of  children  ap¬ 
peared  among  others  at  the  doors  of  the  public  prim¬ 
ary  school  applying  for  entrance.  “What  are  you 
doing  here?  You  have  no  seki,  get  out!”  was  the  cus¬ 
tomary  reception  given  them  by  teachers  who  recog¬ 
nized  what  class  they  came  from.  But  the  children 
had  been  taught  their  rights.  They  drew  out  their 
certificates  and  were  admitted.  The  astonished  teach¬ 
ers  later  went  around  to  the  Christian  kindergarten  to 
inquire  how  these  results  had  been  attained.  *  The 
conduct  of  a  primary  school  for  children  debarred 
from  public  schools  is  another  missionary  opportunity 
— like  the  Canadian  Methodist  one  at  Nippori  near 
Tokyo. 

The  field  for  the  Christian  kindergarten  in  Japan  is 
boundless.  It  is  one  of  the  most  direct  evangelistic 
agencies — removing  prejudice  against  Christianity,  en¬ 
tering  homes,  and  implanting  fundamental  seed  in  vir¬ 
gin  soil.  Recognizing  the  unlimited  opportunity  in 
this  field,  the  Kindergarten  Union  of  Japan  (Chris¬ 
tian)  passed  at  its  sixteenth  annual  meeting,  1922,  a 
vigorous  resolution  asking  the  mission  boards  for 
more  kindergartners  for  Japan,  but  emphasizing  the 
fact  that  those  selected  should  be  specialists  ade- 


*See  the  Tenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Kindergarten  Union  of  Japan, 


178  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

quately  trained  to  meet  the  opportunity,  as  well  as 
women  of  strong  Christian  faith  and  experience  with 
which  to  vitalize  their  work  and  influence.  Japanese 
kindergartners  are  being  developed  in  nine  Christian 
training  schools  that  have  sent  out  over  two  hundred 
graduates.  The  demand  is  greater  than  the  supply. 

Remarkable  Work  of  Miss  Takamori 

Probably  the  best  equipped  Japanese  kindergarten 
specialist  is  Miss  Fuji  Takamori-  She  is  one  of  a  re¬ 
markable  family  of  girls  brought  up  at  Kwassui  Girls’ 
School  by  a  widowed  mother  who  became  an  evangel¬ 
ist.  Miss  Takamori  took  four  diplomas  at  Kwassui — 
including  college,  music,  normal,  and  kindergarten 
training,  and  then  after  some  teaching  experience 
graduated  from  the  Chicago  Kindergarten  College  and 
took  an  M.  A.  from  Columbia  University.  She  is  now 
working  in  the  Lambuth  Memorial  Kindergarten 
Training  School  recently  moved  to  Osaka.  She  has  a 
vision  of  wide  social  service  through  the  kindergarten 
by  way  of  child  welfare  work  through  the  homes  and 
in  society,  and  is  using  her  special  training  to  good 
advantage  in  that  great  city  that  has  the  highest  known 
rate  of  infant  mortality  in  the  world. 

The  National  Mothers’  Association,  founded  in  1918 
by  Christian  women,  both  missionaries  and  Japanese, 
aims  to  disseminate  to  groups  of  mothers  all  over  the 
land  its  monthly  leaflets  on  topics  related  to  the  Chris¬ 
tian  home.  Such  timely  subjects  as  home  discipline, 
children’s  questions  about  sex,  the  care  of  the  teeth, 
the  baby’s  wardrobe,  the  Christian  spirit  in  its  home 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  179 

manifestations,  are  indicative  of  its  reach.  It  dis¬ 
tributes  now  over  3500  leaflets  a  month.  Another  pub¬ 
lishing  agency  of  Christian  women  is  the  Tokiwasha 
(Methodist)  in  Yokohama.  Its  press  issues  Christ¬ 
mas  and  other  religious  cards  and  tracts  and  a  monthly 
magazine,  frequently  containing  songs,  dialogues,  or 
programs  for  special  occasions  in  the  church  or  Sun¬ 
day  School. 

Foreign  Women  Missionaries 

There  are  about  seven  hundred  foreign  women  mis¬ 
sionaries  in  Japan,  of  whom  some  two  hundred  and 
fifty  are  wives  of  missionaries.  Many  of  the  wives 
are  doing  very  valuable  work  with  mothers’  meetings, 
girls’  clubs,  house-to-house  visiting,  Sunday  Schools, 
etc.,  besides  making  the  home  itself  a  demonstration 
of  Christianity  in  daily  practice. 

Of  the  unmarried  women  missionaries,  the  two  class¬ 
es,  “educational”  and  “evangelistic,”  are  not  widely  dif¬ 
ferent  in  numbers.  The  distinction  is  a  technical  one, 
based  on  whether  their  main  work  is  in  a  school,  or  in 
connection  with  a  religious  center  such  as  a  church  or 
a  preaching-place,  or  a  home  made  into  a  workshop  of 
religious  activities.  With  either  name,  the  purpose  of 
the  missionary  is  the  same-— the  spread  of  the  evangel 
of  Jesus  Christ.  If  her  heart  is  full  of  that  evangel, 
it  expresses  itself  alike  through  the  prescribed  routine 
of  the  school  or  through  the  diversified  and  elastic  pro¬ 
gram  of  a  Christian  social  worker  or  evangelist-  Many 
of  the  women  in  school  work  have  a  woman’s  meeting 
or  a  Sunday  School  or  some  other  bit  of  separate  work 


180  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

as  a  kind  of  elective ;  while  many  in  the  evangelistic 
work  take  on  definite  tasks  of  a  few  hours  of  teaching 
in  government  schools  or  in  night-schools  for  the  sake 
of  the  opening  that  such  work  gives  for  personal 
Christian  work. 

A  Japanese  Christian  Chauffeur 
A  happy  combination  of  the  two  kinds  of  work  is 
illustrated  by  Miss  Gaines  of  the  Hiroshima  Girls’ 
School,  the  owner  of  (I  think)  the  first  woman’s  mis¬ 
sionary  “Ford”  in  Japan.  She  is  happy  in  having  as 
chauffeur  a  young  Christian  mechanic  who  came  to  her 
for  little  more  than  half  his  previous  salary,  because  he 
wanted  to  help  her  in  Christian  work.  After  the  day’s 
work  in  school  is  done,  Miss  Gaines  and  a  helper  or 
two  spin  out  of  town  to  a  neighboring  village.  The 
automobile  draws  a  crowd  anywhere  there  are  houses, 
and  the  chauffeur  takes  the  machine  itself  for  his  point 
of  departure.  “Autos,”  he  says  to  the  crowd,  “are  used 
for  many  purposes.  Some  are  for  business  and  some 
are  for  pleasure,  as  you  know.  But  this  one  is  differ¬ 
ent.  This  auto  was  sent  out  here  for  the  particular  pur¬ 
pose  of  telling  you  about  the  message  of  Jesus  Christ.” 
And  then  with  the  help  of  song  a  little  wayside  sermon 
is  delivered,  tracts  are  distributed,  and  a  beginning  of 
seed-sowing  made.  “Last  night,”  I  heard  Miss  Gaines 
say,  “we  had  three  street  meetings  of  about  two  hun¬ 
dred  apiece.  I  am  planning  some  time  to  have  a  stere- 
opticon,  because  with  that  outdoors  these  warm  sum¬ 
mer  evenings  we  could  easily  carry  the  message  to  a 
thousand  people  a  night.”  Sometimes  the  Ford  has  to 


' 


. 

• 

r 


* 


MADAME  KAJI  YAJIMA 
AND  MISS  AZUMA  MORIYA 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  181 

jolt  over  difficult  country  roads,  or  pick  its  way  along 
the  edge  of  precipices  by  the  sea,  but  faithful  to  the 
Ford  traditions  it  carries  the  messenger  and  the  mes¬ 
sage  where  they  need  to  go— to  country  school-house, 
to  isolated  Christian,  to  some  old  pupil  who  weeps  for 
joy  at  renewing  the  Christian  contact  after  years  of 
separation. 

Along  Social  Lines 

Sometimes  the  work  for  girls  takes  the  form  of  va¬ 
cation  house-parties,  when  little  groups  live  together 
in  the  missionary’s  home  for  a  week  or  ten  days  in  a 
healthy  schedule  of  work  and  play,  and  get  with  their 
daily  Bible  study  a  taste  of  real  friendship  and  a  first¬ 
hand  impression  of  how  Christ  reveals  Himself  in  the 
daily  lives  of  His  followers.  The  girls’  camp  move¬ 
ment  is  just  beginning  in  Japan,  with  its  welcome  mes¬ 
sage  of  health  and  balanced  activities.  The  first  girls’ 
camp  was  conducted  at  the  Uradome  seashore,  near 
Tottori,  in  1922,  when  twenty-eight  school-girls  gath¬ 
ered  under  the  leadership  of  Miss  Eleanor  Burnett  and 
others,  and  became  so  enthusiastic  over  the  camp  ideal 
that  they  decided  to  make  it  permanent  and  undertook 
to  work  for  the  necessary  equipment.  Some  had 
learned  there  important  things  about  their  own  bodies ; 
some  had  found  a  new  spiritual  life;  all  had  learned 
how  to  be  a  better  friend  to  some  one. 

There  is  a  field  for  Christian  work  in  the  widely 
organized  girls’  societies  of  Japan.  These  are  affili¬ 
ated  under  a  central  department  formed  in  Tokyo  in 
1918,  and  their  membership  of  over  half  a  million  is 


182  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

kept  in  touch  with  the  headquarters  by  a  monthly 
magazine,  “The  Girls’  Companion.”  This  headquar¬ 
ters  makes  investigations  of  local  conditions  and  stimu¬ 
lates  the  forming  of  girls’  societies,  especially  in  coun¬ 
try  districts  lacking  incentive  to  self-improvement.  Its 
leader  is  Mrs.  Fusako  Yamawaki,  a  prominent  edu¬ 
cator  and  the  founder  of  a  large  girls’  school  in  Tokyo. 
At  a  big  woman’s  meeting  held  under  the  auspices  of 
a  leading  daily  to  discuss  problems  of  the  day,  there 
appeared  an  eager,  sad-eyed  woman  who  sought  out  a 
missionary  present  and  said,  “I  came  to  this  meeting 
from  down  in  the  country,  because  I  am  working  with 
young  girls.  I  am  a  Buddhist,  but  I  want  to  know  any¬ 
thing  that  can  be  used  to  keep  girls  straight  and  serious 
in  these  unstable  times.”  To  a  Christian  who  has  the 
power  of  making  her  Christianity  so  strong  and  beau¬ 
tiful  that  it  is  wanted,  these  secular  girls’  societies  offer 
an  enviable  field  of  influence. 

Y.  W.  C.  A.  Special  Features 

The  Young  Women’s  Christian  Association  in  Japan 
has  made  a  good  start  in  adapting  the  American  club 
idea  to  the  Japanese  girl.  The  psychological  principles 
applying  are  the  same  in  either  case,  and  leadership  is 
the  main  need  in  developing  Girl  Reserves,  Business 
Girls’  Clubs,  and  the  like.  English,  gymnastics,  cook¬ 
ing,  Bible,  and  other  subjects  taken  up  in  clubs  or 
classes,  with  attention  to  recreative  features  and  social 
needs,  are  exemplifying  the  blue  triangle  purpose  here, 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  183 

as  in  other  lands.  One  special  feature  in  Japan  has 
been  its  work  for  emigrant  women.  Of  the  six  hun¬ 
dred  thousand  Japanese  living  abroad,  about  two-fifths 
are  women  ;*  and  hundreds  more  go  every  year  as 
brides  to  help  their  husbands  carve  out  a  new  place  for 
themselves  in  a  foreign  land.  The  effect  of  this  change 
upon  the  emigrant  herself  is  deep;  upon  the  country 
where  she  settles,  important;  upon  the  people  she  has 
left  behind,  often  determinative  of  their  attitude 
toward  the  foreign  country.  Her  ignorance  of  foreign 
methods  of  housekeeping  may  prejudice  a  neighbor¬ 
hood  or  even  wreck  domestic  happiness.  A  failure  to 
recognize  the  ideals  motivating  western  society  may 
cause  discord  and  heart-burnings  in  both  parties. 

The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  Yokohama  and  Kobe,  the  main 
ports  of  departure,  conducts  brief  courses  of  informa¬ 
tion  and  inspiration  for  emigrant  women  during  their 
detention  by  the  authorities  for  medical  inspection  be¬ 
fore  a  sailing  permit  is  given.  These  days  of  waiting 
afford  an  excellent  opportunity  for  sympathetic  Chris¬ 
tian  women  to  make  a  point  of  contact.  With  a  room 
or  two  to  show  housekeeping  models,  some  helpful  ad¬ 
vice  about  dress  and  manners  abroad,  a  little  Bible 
teaching  and,  if  time  permits,  a  bit  of  English — with 
one  or  all  of  these,  the  woman  can  face  a  new  world 
with  less  misgiving,  more  self-respect,  and  a  start  in 

♦Of  the  226,000  women  abroad,  over  one-third  are  in  Manchuria; 
something  over  a  quarter  are  in  Hawaii;  and  other  groups,  in  order 
of  diminishing  numbers  are  in  the  United  States,  China  proper,  Brazil, 
Tsingtao,  Shanghai,  Asiatic  Russia,  and  British  Columbia. 

See  Miss  Helen  Topping’s  article,  “Work  for  the  Japanese  Woman 
Emigrant,”  Japan  Evangelist,  April,  1920. 


184  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

the  right  direction ;  especially  as  the  work  includes  giv¬ 
ing  out  some  Christian  literature  and  an  introduction  to 
the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  worker  at  the  port  of  entering  beyond. 
The  authorities  of  Hyogo  Ken  have  so  welcomed  this 
aid  that  they  have  their  official  emigration  institute  held 
at  the  Kobe  Y.  W.  C.  A.  which  they  helped  to  equip  for 
the  purpose.  Over  a  thousand  women  passed  through 
this  institute  in  the  last  statistical  year;  many  of  them 
were  going  abroad  for  the  second  or  third  time,  but 
there  was  something  for  every  one  to  gain  in  the  at¬ 
tractive  rooms  and  hearts  at  the  Y-  W.  C.  A. 

The  Japan  Young  Women’s  Christian  x\ssociation 
has  now  fifty-seven  secretaries,  of  whom  thirty-two 
are  Japanese.  Since  its  start  in  1905  it  has  developed 
over  thirty  student  associations  and  five  city  associa¬ 
tions,  with  a  total  of  about  8,000  members.  Student 
hotels,  work  for  women  clerks  in  railroad  offices,  sum¬ 
mer  conferences,  a  monthly  magazine,  are  some  of  its 
central  activities.  It  has  also  made  a  beginning  of  so¬ 
cial  welfare  work  for  factory  girls ;  and,  in  order  to  de¬ 
velop  this  kind  of  work,  it  has  begun  a  brief  training 
course  for  social  workers.  Its  expansion  into  the  in¬ 
dustrial  field  is  to  be  heartily  welcomed. 

A  Mount  Holyoke  Graduate 

The  chairman  of  the  National  Committee  of  the  Y. 
W.  C.  A.  is  Mrs.  Hana  Ibuka,  of  Kobe  College  and 
Mount  Holyoke,  whose  busy  life  as  wife  of  the  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Presbyterian  College  in  Tokyo  did  not  pre¬ 
vent  her  from  teaching  science  in  two  mission  girls’ 
schools  and  giving  herself  freely  to  the  service  of  the 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  185 

Association  and  other  allied  good  works.  The  general 
secretary  of  the  Association  is  Miss  Michi  Kawai, 
Japan’s  most  international  woman:  she  is  vice-chair¬ 
man  of  the  World’s  Committee  of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  also 
of  the  World’s  Christian  Student  Federation.  Her 
winning  a  competitive  scholarship  for  Bryn  Mawr 
after  her  graduation  from  the  Presbyterian  mission 
school  in  Sapporo  was  the  outward  beginning  of  her 
internationalism,  but  its  real  incipience  was  when  her 
father  gave  up  his  hereditary  priesthood  in  the  nation¬ 
al  religion  of  Japan  and  accepted  faith  in  the  universal 
Father  of  mankind.  She  was  about  eleven  at  the  time 
and  not  long  afterward  with  the  rest  of  the  family 
joined  with  her  father  in  the  Christian  faith.  Her  con¬ 
nection  with  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  began  by  her  taking  part- 
time  work  in  it  while  teaching  at  Miss  Tsuda’s  English 
College.  But  soon  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  grew  and  she  grew 
with  it,  until  its  expanding  horizon  had  taken  her  not 
only  the  length  and  breadth  of  Japan,  but  also  to  Si¬ 
beria,  China,  Europe,  and  America  on  behalf  of 
women.  Taller  than  the  average  Japanese  woman, 
with  a  clear,  carrying  voice  in  public  speaking,  and  with 
the  power  of  conviction  that  makes  her  forget  herself 
in  her  message,  she  is  the  leading  woman  speaker  in 
Japan  today.  Her  words  by  tongue  or  pen  have  stirred 
many  to  new  personal  and  social  ideas  for  service  of 
country  and  of  the  world. 

2.  Fighting  Vice ,  War,  and  Disease 
Missionary  work  in  Japan,  as  elsewhere,  began  with 


186  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

individual  work  for  individuals.  But  soon  the  need  of 
Christianizing  the  environment,  of  creating  Christian 
society,  led  to  the  establishment  of  agencies  to  work  for 
mass  results.  The  first  of  these  was  the  Woman’s 
Christian  Temperance  Union.  This  is  the  oldest,  as 
the  Woman’s  Patriotic  Association  is  the  largest,  of 
the  national  women’s  organizations.  In  1886  Mrs. 
Mary  Clement  Leavitt  of  the  American  W.  C.  T.  U. 
visited  Japan  to  promote  the  cause  of  temperance.  In 
December  the  Japan  organization  was  launched  with 
thirty  charter  members. 

Madame  Yajima,  Thirty  Years  Head  of  W.  C.  T.  U. 

The  little  woman  of  fifty-four  who  was  then  elected 
president  and  was  continuously  reelected  for  more  than 
thirty  years  was  destined  to  a  work  that  earned  her 
the  title,  “the  Frances  Willard  of  Japan.”  Madame 
Kaji  Yajima  has  a  double  distinction  as  an  educator 
and  as  a  reformer ;  for  after  an  unhappy  marriage  had 
terminated  in  divorce  and  enforced  separation  from 
her  four  children,  she  gave  herself  to  study;  and  in 
the  year  that  saw  the  founding  of  Japan’s  modern  edu¬ 
cational  system,  1872,  she  passed  examinations  and  be¬ 
came  the  first  licensed  woman  teacher  for  primary 
schools.  Within  a  few  years  she  was  attracted  to  work 
with  a  missionary,  because  she  wanted  to  learn  Eng¬ 
lish  and  to  hear  about  the  Christian’s  God.  It  took  her 
seven  years  of  study  to  decide  to  give  allegiance  to  God, 
but  at  the  end  of  that  time  her  self-surrender  was  com¬ 
plete.  She  gave  herself  unreservedly  to  the  service  of 
Christ  through  service  to  men.  For  thirty-four  years, 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  187 

mostly  as  principal  or  acting  principal,  she  worked  in 
the  Presbyterian  girls’  school  in  Tokyo  (Joshi  Gakuin), 
impressing  her  personality  upon  hundreds  of  the  ris¬ 
ing  Christian  women  of  Japan  and  receiving  a  gov¬ 
ernment  decoration  for  her  services. 

But  all  that  time  her  strength  was  being  shared  with 
the  cause  of  temperance  and  purity.  In  her  first  teach¬ 
ing  experience  in  a  public  school,  she  had  tried  to  find 
in  the  homes  the  reason  for  the  dullness  of  some  of  her 
pupils,  and  had  found  that  reason  to  be  drink.  Her 
own  bitter  experience  of  married  life  had  taught  her 
the  need  of  purity  for  the  preservation  of  the  home. 
When  the  first  session  of  the  national  diet  was  held  in 
1889,  she  presented  to  it,  as  to  every  session  since,  a 
petition  for  legislation  making  adultery  in  men  a  crime 
equally  punishable  with  adultery  in  women.  This  peti¬ 
tion  has  never  yet  been  reported  out  of  committee ;  but 
the  idea  of  a  single  standard  of  morals  is  taking  root 
through  steady  Christian  propaganda,  and  its  influence 
is  spreading. 

Madame  Yajima  will  never  be  discouraged.  Her 
long  life  of  activity  seems  but  to  flower  the  more  in 
old  age.  The  second  time  that  she  went  abroad  to 
represent  Japan  at  a  World’s  W.  C.  T.  U.  conven¬ 
tion  she  was  eighty-eight  years  old.  Then  when  the 
Alumnae  of  Joshi  Gakuin  presented  her  with  a  gen¬ 
erous  purse,  saying  as  a  Japanese  would  to  a  beloved 
grandmother,  “Please  use  this  for  massage  or  any¬ 
thing  you  like,’’  Madame  Yajima  said  at  eighty-nine, 
“I  have  the  strength,  I  have  the  time  and  the  money, 


188  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

and  so  is  it  not  I  that  should  go  on  a  message  of  peace 
to  the  world?”  And  so  she  made  that  memorable  trip 
to  Washington  in  1921  and  on  November  seventh,  just 
before  the  opening  of  the  Disarmament  Conference, 
presented  to  President  Harding  the  resolution  declar¬ 
ing  for  peace  from  ten  thousand  women  of  Japan. 

Woman’s  Peace  Association 

'‘There  are  three  classes  of  women  in  Japan  as  re¬ 
gards  peace,”  said  Miss  Nishino  of  the  Wilmina  Girls’ 
School,  addressing  a  conference  of  missionaries  in 
Osaka.  “One  group,  brought  up  under  the  old  bushi- 
do  spirit,  still  believes  that  Japan’s  greatness  is  depend¬ 
ent  upon  her  arms ;  another  group  is  indifferent ;  a  third 
is  definitely  for  disarmament  and  peace — and  these 
are  the  Christian  women  and  those  who  have  been  in¬ 
fluenced  by  Christianity.”  The  fact  that  the  first  class 
is  decreasing  is  concretely  witnessed  by  the  difficul¬ 
ties  that  match-makers  report  now-a-days  in  securing 
brides  for  soldiers ;  many  young  women  are  refusing  to 
marry  military  men.  Another  fact  that  witnesses  to 
the  wane  of  militarism  in  Japan  is  the  recent  order  to 
shrines  having  cannon  or  other  trophies  of  war,  hither¬ 
to  kept  in  conspicuous  positions  as  aids  to  patriotism, 
to  find  less  prominent  places  for  them. 

The  growth  of  the  third  group  is  attested  by  the  or¬ 
ganization  of  the  Woman’s  Peace  Association  of  Japan 
in  1921.  Its  aim  is  to  educate  women  with  regard  to 
the  issues  of  internationalism  and  world  peace,  and  to 
cooperate  with  other  organizations  of  similar  aims. 
Its  patroness  is  Princess  Chiyoko  Konoe,  and  one  of 


MADAME  NOBU  JO  AND  TIIE  HOME  OF  TIIE  KOBE 
WOMAN’S  WELFARE  ASSOCIATION 


# 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  189 

its  leaders  is  Mrs.  Hideko  Inouye,  who  went  as  its 
delegate  to  Washington  in  1921.  Mrs.  Inouye  is  a 
graduate  of  the  Japan  Woman’s  University,  and  after 
studying  at  Teachers  College  in  Columbia  University 
and  at  Chicago  University,  is  now  the  head  of  the 
Household  Science  Department  of  her  alma  mater.  I 
asked  one  of  her  fellow-alumnae  if  Mrs.  Inouye  was  a 
Christian.  “No,  but  she’s  splendid  just  the  same,’’  was 
the  prompt  response.  There  are  many  in  Japan  within 
the  penumbra  of  the  Church  doing  good  works  in  the 
spirit  of  the  Master  who  said  of  one  such,  “He  that  is 
not  against  us  is  for  us.’’ 

Two  Prime  Causes:  Temperance  and  Purity 
The  two  causes  for  which  Mrs.  Yajima  has  lived, 
temperance  and  purity,  are  growing  in  prominence  and 
power.  Christian  agitation  was  the  beginning  of  the 
public  education  along  these  lines.  Publications,  con¬ 
ventions,  addresses,  personal  work,  posters,  all  have 
been  used  to  propagate  the  idea,  and  behind  them  have 
been  the  prayers  and  the  faith  of  the  workers  who  have 
been  willing  to  face  unpopularity  and  ridicule  for  prin¬ 
ciple.  The  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  Japan  has  now  112  branches 
and  5570  members,  besides  its  organized  groups  for 
girls  and  children.  It  has  not  been  alone  on  the  field, 
for  a  similar  Christian  organization  of  men  has  also 
worked  for  temperance.  The  passage  of  Japan’s  first 
prohibition  bill  in  1922  was  a  monument  to  the  patient 
efforts  of  Mr.  Sho  Nemoto,  one  of  Japan’s  Christian 
leaders,  who  introduced  the  bill  to  parliament  twenty- 
five  years  ago,  and  kept  annually  at  it  and  its  educa- 


190  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

tional  background  until  success  came.  The  bill  is  for 
prohibition  for  minors,  and  makes  the  use  of  intoxi¬ 
cating  liquors  by  persons  under  twenty  (except  at  mar¬ 
riage  and  certain  other  ceremonies  that  have  from  an¬ 
cient  times  required  sake)  an  offense  punishable  by  a 
fine  from  the  responsible  person.  It  is  a  happy  thing 
that  this  movement  has  gone  far  beyond  its  Christian 
sources,  and  now  with  the  backing  of  the  National 
Temperance  League  (whose  members  are  of  all  creeds 
and  castes),  and  of  government  specialists  in  social 
work,  it  has  gained  a  momentum  to  which  researches 
in  efficiency,  criminology,  heredity,  and  the  example  of 
America  have  added  zest. 

The  work  for  temperance  is  inevitably  bound  up 
with  the  fight  against  the  social  evil.  To  quote  from  an 
editorial  in  the  Japan  Evangelist,  “in  Japan  perhaps 
more  than  in  other  lands,  the  drink  evil  is  connected 
with  fallen  womanhood  in  such  a  manner  as  to  greatly 
magnify  the  difficulties  of  its  eradication.  According  to 
Mr.  Makino  of  the  Home  Department,  260,000  women 
— prostitutes,  geisha,  and  waitresses  of  shady  reputa¬ 
tions — are  engaged  in  the  business  of  enticing  men  to 
drink.” 

The  Geisha 

The  geisha — that  much-discussed  type  of  Japanese 
woman  (pronounced  “gay-sha”)  is  the  professional  en¬ 
tertainer  of  Japan.  She  is  selected  for  her  profes¬ 
sion  while  still  a  young  girl,  and  chosen  for  her  prom¬ 
ise  of  grace  or  beauty  and  mental  alertness.  She  gen¬ 
erally  receives  a  strict  training  in  dancing,  singing,  and 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  191 

playing  the  samisen,  and  is  expected  to  develop  powers 
of  conversation  and  repartee  with  men.  She  is  hired 
for  a  pastime  by  travelers  at  hotels,  and  by  givers  of 
dinner-parties  for  the  entertainment  of  guests.  Her 
training  makes  her  forward  with  men  and  leads  her  to 
familiarities  of  manner  with  them  that  are  absolutely 
repugnant  to  the  true  Japanese  woman.  Drink  flows 
freely  at  her  functions,  and  her  songs  and  dances  are 
often  such  as  to  appeal  to  the  baser  passions.  Tempta¬ 
tions  are  so  great  and  so  universal  that,  although  im¬ 
morality  is  not  necessarily  or  technically  a  part  of  the 
geisha  profession,  it  is  practically  involved  in  it.  There 
are  fifty-nine  thousand  geisha  in  Japan  today.  Occa¬ 
sionally  a  man  falls  in  love  with  a  geisha,  buys  her  off 
from  her  contract  with  her  manager,  and  sets  her  up 
in  his  home  or  in  a  secondary  establishment.  But  she 
is  seldom  accepted  by  society. 

The  popularity  of  the  geisha  among  Japanese  men  is 
partly  due  to  a  legitimate  craving  for  feminine  society. 
As  customs  in  Japan  have  not  generally  provided  op¬ 
portunities  for  a  healthy,  recreative,  mixed  social  life, 
for  many  a  man  whose  home  offered  no  special  attrac¬ 
tiveness  his  only  opportunity  to  meet  women  socially 
was  through  geisha.  One  constructive  way  to  meet 
the  geisha  problem  is  recognized  to  be  that  of  creating 
homes  that  furnish  intellectual  companionship  and  rec¬ 
reative  charms.  The  educated  wife,  and  all  the  home 
adjuncts  of  civilization — rational  diet,  well-ordered 
house-keeping,  the  piano  or  organ  or  victrola,  the  day’s 
books  and  magazines — and  with  and  above  all  these, 


192  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

the  Christian  spirit  that  penetrates  and  beautifies,  and 
makes  the  home  live  for  more  than  itself — the  modern 
geisha  will  be  driven  to  the  wall  as  these  multiply.  “I 
want  my  home  to  be  like  yours,”  said  a  prospective 
bride,  not  yet  a  Christian,  to  the  missionary  mother  in 
whose  home  she  had  taken  music  lessons. 

Licensed  Prostitution 

The  stratum  below  the  geisha  is  that  of  the  shogi 
or  licensed  prostitute.  To  quote  from  a  Japanese  re¬ 
port  prepared  for  a  National  Christian  Conference 
held  in  Tokyo  in  1922 :  “There  are  a  total  number  of 
9,837  houses  of  prostitution  in  Japan,  with  inmates 
totalling  47,268.  The  annual  visits  made  to  these  dens 
of  sin  run  up  to  the  appalling  number  of  24,106,163. 
Annually  46,115,782  yen  is  spent  on  this  form  of  vice. 
If  to  this  be  added  tips,  drinks,  and  other  expenditures 
the  total  will  certainly  run  up  to  1,200,000,000  yen 
annually.” 

The  system  of  licensed  prostitution  is  a  modern  thing 
in  Japan,  patterned  after  that  in  Europe.  But  in  Japan 
the  debt  system  under  which  the  girl  is  held  is  little 
short  of  slavery.  Says  Dr.  H.  W.  Myers,*  “The  re¬ 
cruiting  agent  finds  a  family  in  straitened  circum¬ 
stances  with  a  promising  daughter  and  offers  to  train 
the  daughter  as  a  geisha,  or  to  hire  her  as  a  waitress  in 
a  hotel  or  restaurant,  advancing  to  the  family  any¬ 
where  from  a  hundred  to  twelve  hundred  yen,  to  be  re¬ 
paid  from  the  salary  of  the  girl  in  monthly  payments. 
The  consent  of  the  girl  may  be  won  by  a  sight  of  the 


*In  an  article,  “The  Gospel  in  its  Application  to  Social  and  Indus¬ 
trial  Conditions  in  Japan  Today,”  Japan  Evangelist,  Oct.  1920.  Wher¬ 
ever  possible,  readers  should  secure  this  article  entire. 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  193 

beautiful  clothes  she  will  wear  and  an  account  of  the 
luxurious  life  she  will  lead.  Often  they  are  ignorant 
country  folks  who  do  not  dream  of  the  life  to  which 
they  are  selling  their  daughter.  In  many  cases  as  much 
as  half  of  the  money  goes  to  buy  the  clothes  and  pay 
the  traveling  expenses  of  the  girl  herself.’’  Dr.  Myers 
tells  of  Colonel  Yamamuro’s  investigation  of  seventy 
girls  in  Tokyo,  that  showed  that,  at  the  rate  at  which 
they  had  been  able  to  repay  their  debts  in  the  first  two 
and  two-thirds  years,  it  would  take  each  girl  on  an 
average  188  years,  10  months,  and  6  days  to  become 
free. 

Campaign  of  Enlightenment 

Christians  have  been  working  against  the  system  for 
many  years.  Both  personally  and  in  organizations, 
they  have  made  efforts  to  change  legislation  for  the 
benefit  of  the  whole,  and  to  aid  individual  women  to 
freedom.  To  quote  further  from  Dr.  Myers’  sum¬ 
mary,  “Today  we  see  a  steady  campaign  of  enlighten¬ 
ment  going  on  all  over  the  country  under  the  leadership 
of  Christians  for  the  entire  abolition  of  the  system. 
Great  mass  meetings  have  been  held  in  Tokyo,  Osaka, 
and  Kobe,  and  many  other  places,  and  the  public  is  be¬ 
ing  taught  the  real  nature  of  the  viper  it  has  been  cher¬ 
ishing.  The  whole  system  would  fall  to  the  ground  if 
it  were  made  illegal  to  hold  a  woman  for  debt.  ...  As 
matters  now  stand,  the  police  do  not  ordinarily  chase 
after  run-away  girls  and  bring  them  back,  but  the 
keeper  can  demand  either  the  girl  or  his  money  back 


194  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

from  the  parents  and  can  prosecute  them  for  fraud  if 
neither  is  forthcoming. 

Chastity  has  always  been  an  emphasized  and  ex¬ 
pected  virtue  of  Japanese  women.  Of  those  who  lack 
it,  many  are  the  victims  of  circumstance,  or  of  the 
mistaken  idea  that  obedience  to  parents  and  the  rein¬ 
statement  of  family  fortunes  justify  the  sacrifice  of 
virtue.  It  is  to  be  greatly  regretted  that  so  often  the 
Japanese  women  in  foreign  port  cities  should  be  of 
this  type,  and  that  thus  among  other  nations  a  false  im¬ 
pression  is  spread  as  to  what  the  true  Japanese  woman 
is.*  Mrs.  William  Merrell  Vories,  who  as  Miss  Hitot- 
suyanagi  studied  at  Bryn  Mawr  and  Yale  during  part 
of  her  nine  years  in  America,  bemoans  in  “The  Chris¬ 
tian  Movement  in  Japan”  for  1922  the  fact  that  the 
real  women  of  Japan  are  the  least  known*  “The  wom¬ 
en  of  Japan  the  other  world  knows,”  she  says,  “are 
the  geisha  girls  who  are  on  exhibition  for  business  and 
tourist  circles,  who  sell  their  smiles  and  morals  for  big 
sums  of  money.  The  books  written  on  Japan  contain 
many  pages  on  these  women.  .  .  .  Many  times  in  Amer¬ 
ica  I  was  met  with  such  an  attitude  on  the  part  of 
American  men  as  would  be  shameful  to  tell.  It  was 
because  their  ideas  about  Japanese  women  were  formed 
by  these  books  and  by  the  tales  of  tourists  who  ac¬ 
quainted  themselves  with  geisha.” 

*There  are  said  to  be  twenty  thousand  Japanese  women  in  immoral 
business  abroad.  One  of  the  objectives  of  W.  C.  T.  U.  effort  is  to 
secure  government  prohibition  of  the  export  of  women  for  such  pur¬ 
poses. 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  195 
A  Harrowing  Story 

Mrs.  Tetsuko  Komaki,  the  Salvation  Army  captain 
in  charge  of  the  Army’s  Home  of  Hope  in  Osaka,  says 
that  of  the  fifty-six  geisha  and  shogi  that  have  come  to 
the  Home  within  three  years,  all  had  been  either  forced 
or  deceived  into  that  life  and  had  left  it  of  their  own 
will.  Mrs.  Komaki  tells  of  one  girl  who  had  entered 
a  house  of  prostitution  because  her  sister  was  there; 
after  a  time,  however,  illness  sent  her  to  a  hospital 
where  she  was  tended  by  a  Christian  nurse ;  this  nurse 
urged  her  to  change  her  life  and  led  her  to  decide  to  be 
a  Christian.  The  girl  returned  to  her  adopted  parents 
and  announced  her  change  of  purpose.  "You  can’t 
leave  that  house,”  said  the  foster-father,  “because  your 
debts  aren’t  paid.’’’  The  girl  cut  off  her  hair  to  pre¬ 
vent  her  being  sent  back.  “No  matter,’’  said  the  man, 
“You  can  put  on  a  wig  and  go  back  just  the  same,” 
and  so  she  cut  off  a  finger  of  her  right  hand.  “Then 
you  can  be  a  cook,’’  said  he,  and  set  her  to  heavy  house¬ 
hold  labor.  After  six  months,  however,  the  dread  of 
being  sent  back  again  drove  her  to  the  Salvation  Army 
Home.  For  a  while  she  lived  and  worked  there,  wit¬ 
nessing  to  her  faith.  Now  she  is  in  her  own  home, 
happily  married;  she  has  a  new  step-father,  and  has 
led  all  her  family  to  be  Christians  with  her ;  her  home 
is  a  shining  light  to  her  vicinity. 

Honor  to  W.  C.  T.  U.  and  Salvation  Army 
The  W.  C.  T.  U.  and  the  Salvation  Army  are  the 
organizations  that  have  done  the  most  rescue  work  for 
women.  The  W.  C.  T.  U.  has  a  Florence  Crittenden 


196  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

Home  in  Tokyo;  the  Salvation  Army  has  four  rescue 
ho-mes  in  different  places.  Captain  Komaki,  already 
referred  to  as  in  charge  of  the  Osaka  one,  was  led  to 
Christianity  after  a  disastrous  marriage  had  left  her 
with  the  responsibility  of  a  little  daughter.  After  con¬ 
version,  she  applied  to  the  Salvation  Army  for  a  life 
appointment  for  social  service.  She  has  the  faith  and 
ready  wit,  for  instance,  to  pray  a  burglar  out  of  the 
house  where  she  and  another  woman  were  sleeping  un¬ 
protected.  She  saw  him  through  the  doorway  scratch¬ 
ing  a  match  on  the  stairs,  and  began  to  sing  a  hymn 
and  pray  so  loudly  about  him  that  the  burglar,  unused 
to  such  spiritual  onslaught,  retreated  as  silently  as  he 
had  come.  Captain  Komaki’s  faith  can  meet  and  over¬ 
come  also  less  tangible  and  more  insidious  foes. 

Next  to  Mrs.  Yajima,  the  greatest  woman  in  the 
anti-vice  movement  is  Miss  Utako  Hayashi.  She  has 
led  to  a  large  degree  of  success  three  campaigns  against 
prostitution  in  Osaka.  Miss  Hayashi  became  a  Chris¬ 
tian  while  teaching  in  the  Rikkyo  Girls’  School  (Amer¬ 
ican  Episcopal)  in  Tokyo  and  giving  lessons  in  Jap¬ 
anese  to  one  of  the  missionaries.  A  sermon  on  the  fact 
that  all  mankind  are  brothers  was  the  decisive  one  for 
her.  Another  talk  with  profound  influence  on  her  life 
was  a  Christmas  talk  by  a  Christian  philanthropist  that 
led  her  to  decide  on  a  life  of  self-sacrifice.  She  lived 
this  out  in  her  next  work,  for  she  took  over  from  the 
dying  philanthropist  the  orphanage  he  had  founded, 
and  through  years  of  struggle  and  answered  prayer 
built  up  the  Hakuaisha  in  Osaka.  She  started  the  Osa- 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  197 

ka  Branch  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  in  1899,  led  the  women 
in  relief  work  for  soldiers,  made  a  trip  to  America  on 
behalf  of  the  Hakuaisha,  and  there  studied  charitable 
institutions.  Impressed  with  the  need  of  protection 
for  women,  she  founded  on  her  return  the  W.  C,  T.  U. 
Woman’s  Home  in  Osaka,  where  many  a  woman  has 
found  home-comfort  in  time  of  loneliness  or  need. 

Miss  Hayashi,  an  Intrepid  Leader 

When  some  houses  of  prostitution  in  Osaka  had 
been  burned  down  in  a  large  conflagration,  and  the 
question  of  rebuilding  arose,  it  was  Miss  Hayashi  that 
led  the  woman’s  campaign  of  opposition.  Petitions, 
processions,  mass  meetings,  publicity,  prayer — every 
available  means  was  used  for  rousing  and  educating 
public  opinion.  Powerful  newspapers  and  the  efforts 
of  leading  citizens  back  of  the  united  Christian  forces 
of  this,  the  second  largest  city  in  Japan,  with  its  popu¬ 
lation  of  a  million  and  a  half,  made  the  so-called  “To- 
bita  campaign”  known  throughout  the  nation,  and  did 
for  public  opinion  a  service  greater  than  can  be  meas¬ 
ured  by  the  only  partial  success  of  the  campaign.  Miss 
Hayashi  and  her  adjutants  had  hoped  to  prevent  en¬ 
tirely  the  rebuilding  of  the  licensed  quarters ;  the  quar¬ 
ters  were  rebuilt,  but  this  time  outside  the  city.  When 
the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  next  held  its  annual  meeting 
in  Osaka,  a  party  of  delegates  headed  by  Miss  Hayashi 
wended  its  way  to  a  height  outside  the  city  overlooking 
the  new  quarters  springing  up  in  iniquitous  splendor, 
and  there  held  with  tears  of  faith  a  memorable  prayer- 


198  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

meeting  for  the  ultimate  victory  of  purity  in  the  land. 
In  the  progress  of  the  cause  it  is  worth  noting  that  the 
Sixth  National  Social  Workers’  Convention,  in  1921, 
with  over  fifteen  hundred  delegates,  many  of  whom 
were  not  Christians,  sent  a  resolution  to  the  govern¬ 
ment  asking  for  the  abolition  of  the  system  of  licensed 
prostitution. 

At  the  time  of  this  writing,  Miss  Hayashi  is  ap¬ 
pointed  delegate  to  the  1922  convention  of  the  World's 
W.  C.  T.  U.  in  Philadelphia  and  to  that  of  the  Ameri¬ 
can  one  at  Atlantic  City ;  and  plans  to  go  on  to  Europe 
in  1923  to  study  social  work  and  woman’s  movements. 
A  government  decoration  in  1920  showed  that  this 
prophet  is  not  without  honor  even  in  her  own  country. 

Mrs.  Jo  and  Her  Famous  Anti-Suicide  Signboard  at  Suma 

Another  splendid  woman  fighter  is  Mrs.  Nobu  Jo. 
She  can  stand  at  the  door  in  the  face  of  a  threatening 
man  with  a  knife  to  whose  wife  she  has  given  protec¬ 
tion  inside,  and  say  to  him,  “You  may  have  your  wife 
back  just  as  soon  as  you  become  a  decent  man  and  de¬ 
serve  her.”  (In  this  particular  case  he  came  back 
afterward  in  a  changed  spirit  and  thanked  her.)  She 
takes  into  her  Welfare  Home  the  stranded  country 
girls,  lost  or  betrayed  or  out  of  work ;  she  welcomes  the 
would-be  suicides  that  the  police  bring  her  or  who 
come  of  their  own  accord  in  response  to  her 
famous  signboard  at  Suma,  “Wait  a  minute!”  for 
those  bent  on  self-destruction  there ;  she  patiently 
teaches  and  trains  them  while  waiting  to  find  employ¬ 
ment  for  them,  or  to  straighten  out  a  home  tangle  so 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  199 

that  they  can  return,  or  to  bring  about  the  change  in 
their  own  hearts  that  alone  would  make  it  safe  to  send 
them  out  into  the  world  again.  Mrs.  Jo  as  a  girl  was 
in  the  mission  school  at  Matsuyama  (Congregational), 
later  became  a  Methodist  Bible  woman,  then  took 
charge  of  the  Old  Folks’  Home,  a  Christian  enterprise 
in  Kobe-  When  she  had  worked  that  up  to  a  fair 
support,  she  launched  her  desire  of  years  in  this  pre¬ 
ventive  work  for  women  and  girls.  Single-handed 
she  has  in  the  last  six  years  built  up  the  Kobe  Woman’s 
Welfare  Association,  secured  land  and  put  up  build¬ 
ings  for  the  accommodation  of  twenty  women  and  for 
holding  neighborhood  women’s  meetings,  dealt  with 
over  seven  hundred  suicide  cases,  and  taken  into  the 
home  508  women  for  longer  or  shorter  times.  She  is 
a  saviour  of  others  because  she  knows  a  divine  Saviour 
and  works  in  His  power. 

Another  preventative  work,  in  a  small  prefectural 
city  and  less  dramatic,  while  more  intensive,  is  that  of 
Miss  Anne  Dowd’s  Jogakkai  in  Kochi.  For  twenty 
years  or  so  she  has  been  taking  into  a  home  dormitory 
poor  girls  in  danger  from  their  surroundings.  They 
agree  to  stay  four  or  five  years  and  work  their  way, 
learning  hand  work  and  some  school-subjects  and  re¬ 
ceiving  an  effective  Christian  training.  Of  the  hun¬ 
dred  who  have  gone  out  from  this  home  all  have  been 
Christians,  a  number  have  married  Christian  workers, 
and  many  have  established  Christian  homes. 

Missionaries  Fight  Leprosy 

The  Christian  fight  against  disease  has  centered  on 


200  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

leprosy  and  tuberculosis.  “It  was  by  foreign  mission¬ 
aries  that  all  the  private  asylums  and  hospitals  for 
lepers  were  first  founded  in  Japan,  and  it  was  through 
their  agitation  that  both  the  public  and  the  government 
have  adopted  definite  arrangements  for  sheltering  and 
segregating  this  unhappy  class  of  fellow-mortals.” 
(Japan  Year-Book).  The  government  has  established 
five  large  leper  hospitals,  but  even  with  these  only  5 
per  cent  of  Japan’s  24,000  lepers  can  be  accommodated. 
How  many  of  these  lepers  are  women  is  not  stated,  but 
the  distinctive  work  in  this  line  by  a  woman  is  that  of 
Miss  Harriet  Riddell,  founder  and  head  of  the  Hos¬ 
pital  of  the  Resurrection  of  Hope  in  Kumamoto.  Miss 
Riddell  is  an  English  lady  of  good  birth,  who  at  first 
in  a  mission  and  then  independently  of  it  has  met  the 
need  that  made  its  appeal  to  her.  Her  life  and  her  ef¬ 
fort  and  even  her  property  have  gone  into  the  task  of 
bringing  hope  once  more  into  dying  hearts,  and  this  she 
has  done  through  the  gospel  of  Christ’s  cleansing  love 
and  His  gift  of  eternal  life.  She  has  received  help  in 
this  undertaking  from  England  and  America  and 
Japan.  Her  work  is  much  appreciated  in  Japan,  where 
the  decoration  conferred  upon  her  in  1906  has  been  the 
government’s  seal  of  approval  upon  it. 

Tuberculosis  is  the  same  scourge  in  Japan  that  it  is 
in  other  lands.  Provision  for  present  sufferers  is  go¬ 
ing  hand  in  hand  with  education  to  prevent  future 
spread  of  the  disease.*  Constructive  health  education 


*The  law  provides  for  a  sanitorium  for  consumptives  in  every  city 
of  over  350,000,  with  subsidy  from  the*  national  treasury. 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  201 

is  an  open  field  for  the  Christian  woman,  and  one  which 
will  be  welcomed  wherever  it  is  tactfully  and  consist- 
etly  carried  on.  A  health  crusade,  based  on  that  con¬ 
ducted  in  American  schools,  is  being  tried  out  by  Rev. 
C.  B.  Olds  in  Okayama  among  Sunday  School  children. 

It  is  hoped  that  it  will  succeed  and  spread. 

3.  Reconstructing  and  Awakening 

It  is  no  small  part  of  the  Christian  message  that  em¬ 
phasizes  the  body  as  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
dignifies  every  means  for  rendering  that  body  more 
efficient  for  whatever  service  God  may  command.  It  is 
the  same  principle  of  Christian  efficiency — or  Christian 
economy — that  claims  for  the  unfortunate  or  neglected 
classes  the  right  of  developing  their  potentialities ;  that 
helps  to  bring  in  that  day  of  the  Kingdom  when  the 
eyes  of  the  blind  shall  be  opened  and  the  tongue  of  the 
dumb  sing.  Although  in  the  modern  reconstruction  of 
the  nation  it  has  not  been  possible  for  the  government 
or  the  public  to  meet  the  needs  of  all  classes,  a  begin¬ 
ning  has  been  made  in  education  for  the  blind  and  for 
deaf-mutes,  in  provision  for  orphans,  in  homes  for  the 
feeble-minded  and  asylums  for  the  insane.  In  the  case 
of  Christian  institutions  of  one  or  another  of  these 
kinds,  it  is  noteworthy  that  they  were  generally  estab¬ 
lished  not  by  missions,  but  by  Japanese  who  had 
caught  the  spirit  of  Christ, — a  fact  that  well  illustrates 
the  working  of  the  leaven.  One  educated  young 
woman  refused  a  position  in  business  that  offered  her 
one  hundred  yen  a  month  in  Tokyo,  to  take  a  salary  of 


202  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

thirty  in  a  Christian  orphanage  in  a  prefectural  city, 
— for  the  spirit  of  Christ  had  given  her  a  new  perspec¬ 
tive. 

First  Slum  Settlement 

City  slums,  if  not  entirely  a  modern  thing  in  Japan, 
have  been  greatly  increased  by  modern  developments 
in  industry  and  society.  (For  a  description  of  slum 
conditions,  see  Dr.  Myers’  article  already  referred  to.) 
The  need  for  reconstruction  in  these  places  is  being 
faced  by  the  government  and  by  organizations  for  so¬ 
cial  improvement,  as  well  as  by  the  Christian  forces. 
The  honor  of  having  started  the  first  Christian  slum 
settlement  belongs  to  Miss  Alice  P.  Adams  (Ameri¬ 
can  Board)  in  Okayama.  In  an  intensely  poor  part  of 
the  city  where  vice  and  crime  and  disease  were  flour¬ 
ishing,  she  commenced  in  1891  by  giving  out  picture 
papers  to  the  children,  who  responded  by  throwing 
stones.  Consistent  attempts  of  friendliness,  however, 
and  an  attractive  Christmas  celebration  soon  converted 
the  stone-throwers  into  applicants  for  a  Sunday  school. 
From  this  beginning  grew  the  now  well-known  Hakuai- 
kai, — the  settlement,  with  its  day  nursery,  its  primary 
school  to  which  unregistered  children  may  go,  its  sew¬ 
ing  school  for  older  girls,  and  its  dispensary.  This 
medical  feature  has  been  supported  not  by  mission 
funds,  but  by  private  contributions  and  government 
grants.  To  this  city  physicians,  even  non-Christians, 
have  given  free  service.  One  of  the  first  results  of  the 
medical  work  was  the  rescue  of  a  blind  boy  who  was 
sent  to  the  Christian  Blind  School  in  Kobe  and  has  be- 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  203 

come  a  successful  and  self-respecting  masseur.  The 
evangelistic  work  is  the  heart  of  the  settlement;  the 
evangelist  teaches  and  preaches,  with  all  the  usual 
forms  of  meetings,  Sunday  school,  and  individual 
work.  There  have  been  over  fifty  baptisms. 

The  Beneficent  Hakuaikai 

The  uplift  of  the  neighborhood  through  the  Hakuai¬ 
kai,  and  its  reaction  on  the  city  have  been  marked ;  its 
further  influence  as  an  example  of  Christianity  in  so¬ 
cial  application  has  been  extensive;  but  its  most  far- 
flung  result  is  probably  in  the  rescued  boy  who  went 
through  middle  school  and  the  Doshisha  Theological 
Seminary,  worked  in  a  pastorate  in  Hachiman,  and 
then,  responded  to  the  call  of  the  opening  work  in  the 
South  Seas,  and  has  been  for  over  two  years  preaching 
Christ  in  Japan’s  new  sphere  of  influence  in  the  Mar¬ 
shall  Islands.  His  earnest  wife,  a  graduate  of  the 
Woman’s  Evangelistic  School,  and  even  their  eager, 
little  children  feeling  their  responsibility  to  their 
country  and  to  Christ,  are  sharing  devotedly  in  the 
work.  The  success  of  the  Hakuaikai  has  been  an  en¬ 
couragement  to  all  later  workers  in  slums;  and  this 
form  of  Christian  work  is  steadily  on  the  increase. 

With  this  increase,  crime  will  gradually  decrease, 
but  at  present  there  is  need  of  much  constructive  work 
for  ex-convicts,  both  men  and  women.  Some  six 
hundred  homes  for  such  exist  throughout  the  country, 
most  of  them  Buddhist,  and  all  under  the  control  of  a 
central  organization  started  by  the  government.  One 
of  the  best  institutions,  and  one  regarded  as  a  model, 


204  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

is  that  of  Mr.  T.  Hara,  himself  a  Christian  ex-convict, 
who  has  been  working  for  this  class  for  forty  years. 
The  house  his  institution  now  occupies  was  built  by  his 
reformed  ex-convicts  with  money  given  by  Marquis 
Okuma.  He  takes  both  men  and  women,  although  he 
has  ten  times  as  many  men  as  women  in  the  total  seven 
thousand  that  have  passed  under  his  care.*  His  is  a 
work  of  Christian  love,  backed  by  faith  in  human  na¬ 
ture  reconstructed  by  Jesus  Christ.  The  Salvation 
Army  is  also  conducting  prison  gate  work  for  both 
men  and  women. 

For  those  in  prison,  some  special  work  has  been  done 
by  Miss  A.  B.  West  and  Miss  Caroline  Macdonald  of 
Tokyo-  The  latter  has  enriched  Christian  literature  by 
translating  into  English  the  autobiographical  account 
of  one  of  the  men  to  whom  these  Christian  messengers 
brought  the  peace  of  Christ’s  forgiveness.f 

“New  Citizens” 

The  class  probably  least  touched  by  Christianity  is 
that  of  the  shin  heimin,  or  “new  citizens,”  the  former 
outcast  class  reinstated  in  modern  times.  They  have 
not  yet  been  assimilated  into  the  general  population, 
and  the  nearly  one  million  of  them  live  in  over  five 
thousand  special  villages,  many  of  which  are  overpop¬ 
ulated  and  rank  with  disease  and  crime.  The  govern¬ 
ment  is  using  night  schools,  industrial  education,  pub¬ 
lic  bath-houses,  etc.,  for  their  uplift.  Their  problem  is 

*See  his  article  on  “Prison  Gate  Work”  in  “The  Christian  Move¬ 
ment  in  Japan”  for  1922,  with  its  story  of  one  hardened  woman  com¬ 
pletely  made  over. 

t“A  Gentleman  in  Prison,”  published  by  Doran,  N.  Y.  Dr.  John 
Kelman  in  his  foreword  calls  it  “one  of  the  world’s  great  stories.” 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  205 

but  a  part  of  the  general  problem  of  the  slums.  A 
beginning  of  Christian  work  among  them  has  been 
made  in  three  or  four  places,  but  no  missionary  has 
yet  gone  to  live  and  work  among  them.  Their  thou¬ 
sands  of  women  and  children  are  waiting  for  friendly 
hands  and  hearts  of  Christian  women  bringing  the 
leaven. 

A  Problem:  the  Japanese  Factory  Girl 
Then  there  is  the  great  group  of  factory  hands, — 
Japan’s  industrial  girls  and  women,  a  new  class  created 
in  this  twentieth  century  of  economic  evolution.  In 
Japan  there  are  more  female  than  male  employes  in  the 
factories — a  million  and  a  quarter  of  them,  the  textile 
industries  far  outweighing  all  the  rest  in  the  number  of 
hands.  There  are  a  few  factories — very  few  out  of 
the  twenty-three  thousand  of  them — that  have  light, 
airy  dormitories,  moderate  hours  of  work,  and  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  recreation  and  study  outside  of  hours.  That 
there  are  even  a  few  is  a  matter  of  encouragement,  as 
is  the  fact  that  more  and  more  employers  are  coming 
to  see  the  necessity  for  making  better  provision  for 
their  employes.  The  average  working  day  in  factories 
throughout  the  empire  is  eleven  hours,  though  in  busy 
seasons  it  may  run  to  sixteen  or  seventeen  in  some 
women’s  work.  Dormitories  are  crowded  and  used 
day  and  night  by  unceasing  shifts  of  girls  whose  un¬ 
aired  bedding,  used  in  common,  becomes  a  ready  car¬ 
rier  of  disease.  Tuberculosis  attacks  as  many  as  26.6 
per  cent  of  the  operatives  in  cotton  factories.  Others 
fall  victim  to  venereal  disease,  or  escape  from  the  op- 


206  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

pression  of  the  factory  into  prostitution  houses.  Thou¬ 
sands  fall  thus  by  the  wayside  every  year,  representing 
a  frightful  loss,  physical  and  spiritual,  in  the  young 
womanhood  of  the  nation. 

Christian  women  are  trying  to  meet  this  situation  in 
two  ways:  by  individual  work  and  by  organization- 
The  individual  work  is  that  where  the  missionary  or 
Christian  worker  secures  an  opening  for  meetings  in¬ 
side  the  factory  or  for  friendly  center  outside  where 
girls  may  be  attracted  and  thus  be  helped  to  those 
thoughts  of  higher  things,  those  aspirations  and  ideals 
that  alone  can  prevent  a  girl  from  atrophy  or  worse 
under  the  deadening  routine  of  her  calling  and  its  se¬ 
ducing  surroundings.  A  missionary  had  trained  a  group 
of  factory  girls  in  a  little  floral  and  musical  play  con¬ 
taining  an  allegory  of  the  things  worth  while  in  life. 
One  of  the  head  men  of  the  factory  went  to  see  the 
play  given.  He  sat  beside  the  missionary,  and  at  a  cer¬ 
tain  point  said  to  her,  “Those  are  not  our  girls — we 
haven’t  any  that  can  do  that  sort  of  thing.”  But  there 
they  were,  revealing  unsuspected  capabilities  under  the 
touch  of  a  Christian  leader. 

The  pioneer  of  missionary  work  in  Osaka,  that 
greatest  of  Japan’s  industrial  cities,  was  Miss  J.  M. 
Holland  of  the  English  Church.  By  sheer  good,  Chris¬ 
tian,  British  perseverance,  she  won  the  way  for  her 
Christian  message,  her  tracts  and  pictures,  against  con¬ 
servatism  and  managerial  opposition  until  she  had 
reached  hundreds  of  girls  in  several  different  factories. 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  207 
Christlike  Labors 

In  the  Tokyo  district  extensive  factory  work  is  being 
conducted  by  Miss  Susan  M.  Bauernfeind  of  the 
Evangelical  Association  and  the  Biblewomen  working 
with  her.  Of  these  she  writes:  “To  enter  the  dor¬ 
mitory,  to  live  with  the  girls  as  one  of  them,  write  let¬ 
ters  for  them,  read  or  teach  the  Bible  to  them,  spend 
hour  after  hour  with  some  soul  in  great  distress,  can 
only  be  done  when  the  love  of  Christ  is  the  controlling 
factor  in  one’s  life.  This  work  was  made  possible 
by  the  favorable  attitude  of  those  in  authority  in 
the  factory.  Sometimes  even  Christian  matrons  have 
been  asked  for  by  factory  managers.  Again  in  others 
no  Christian  meetings  are  allowed  and  all  Christian 
contacts  are  frowned  upon,  in  the  fear  that  the  girls 
will  be  made  discontented  with  their  surroundings. 

An  example  of  work  in  a  factory  neighborhood  is 
the  hostel  Aiseikan,  “Home  of  Love  and  Purity,”  con¬ 
ducted  by  Miss  Annie  W.  Allen,  (Canadian  Methodist) 
in  a  section  of  Tokyo  where  factory  girls,  conductor 
girls,  office  girls,  prostitute  girls,  and  canal  women  pass 
one  another  by  the  hundreds  every  day  in  the  pursuit 
of  business  or  pleasure-  The  hostel  accommodates 
twenty  boarders  whom  it  initiates  into  the  joys  of  a 
Christian  home  life ;  and  with  victrola,  lantern  pictures, 
lending  library,  Bible  singing  and  English  classes,  it 
makes  a  social  center  of  uplift  to  all  whom  it  may  draw 
within  its  walls.  Besides,  the  workers  go  out  to  fifteen 
meetings  a  month  in  factories  to  which  they  have  been 
granted  entrance. 


208  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

“Home  of  Love  and  Purity” 

Though  started  only  in  1916,  the  hostel  is  old  enough 
to  show  concrete  results.  "We  have  had  the  joy,”  said 
Miss  Alien,  ”of  seeing  several  (girls)  who  have  helped 
to  found  true  Christian  homes,  and  one  of  our  hostel 
girls,  after  many  years  in  the  factory,  took  a  nurse’s 
training  and  is  now  helping  in  the  work  in  the  slums.” 
She  adds:  “Young  Japan  is  waking  to  the  fact  that  it 
has  a  duty  to  its  neglected  classes.  Universities  have 
established  social  service  courses ;  young  men  and 
women  are  investigating  conditions  and  are  organizing 
various  forms  of  relief.  It  remains  with  the  Christian 
forces  here  and  in  so-called  Christian  lands  to  deter¬ 
mine  whether  there  shall  be  given  adequate  and  con¬ 
crete  examples  of  the  only  true  and  lasting  social  ser¬ 
vice,  which  is  Christian  service  for  society.  Our  chal¬ 
lenge  rings  clear — the  appalling  need  of  those  around 
us  here  and  in  a  thousand  similar  places,  the  responsi¬ 
bility  laid  on  us  by  the  eagerness  of  some  and  the  indif¬ 
ference  of  others.  Where  the  desire  for  a  better  life  al¬ 
ready  exists,  it  is  ours  to  help  to  meet  it ;  where  it  does 
not  exist,  it  is  ours  to  help  inspire  it.” 

Japanese  Women  Now  Awake 

This  is  the  essential  individual  way  to  help.  One 
organized  way  in  which  Christian  women  are  trying  to 
help  the  whole  class  is  in  a  group  that  has  named  itself 
“The  Awakened  Woman’s  Society.”  It  started  in  1921 
under  the  leadership  of  Mrs.  Tomie  Komiyama,  the 
woman’s  worker  in  Mr.  Kagawa’s  slum  settlement, 
Mrs.  Kagawa,  Miss  Yasu  Oda  (of  Oberlin  Theologi- 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  209 

cal  Seminary),  and  other  active  Christian  women. 
Mrs.  Kagawa  was  herself  as  a  young  girl  a  worker  in  a 
bookbinding  establishment,  and  has  a  keen  under¬ 
standing  of  and  sympathy  for  girl  workers.  The 
Declaration  of  the  Awakened  Women  says  among 
other  things:  “A  large  part  of  the  industry  of  Japan  is 
carried  on  by  women.  Women  laborers  working  un¬ 
derground — a  thing  seldom  seen  in  other  countries — 
number  over  one  hundred  thousand.  Moreover,  the 
number  of  licensed  prostitutes  is  the  largest  in  the 
world.  The  education  of  women  shows  little  progress, 
the  number  of  divorces  is  great,  the  infant  death  rate 
increases.  One  almost  feels  as  if  the  Japanese  women 
were  shut  out  from  the  blessings  of  civilization.  We 
need  to  awaken  to  all  these  things.” 

The  program  of  the  organization  has  five  points :  to 
work  together  with  men  for  the  betterment  of  society; 
to  raise  the  standard  of  women  and  to  work  for  women 
suffrage ;  to  improve  the  working  conditions  of  women 
laborers;  to  release  women  enslaved  in  such  occupa¬ 
tions  as  prostitution;  and  to  protect  the  rights  of 
motherhood  and  childhood.  This  Awakened  Woman's 
Society,  numbering  now  seven  hundred  women  mostly 
in  western  and  southern  Japan,  represents  the  social 
welfare  ideals  of  a  much  larger  circle  of  women.  The 
“New  Women”  of  Japan,  as  we  have  seen,  have  simi¬ 
lar  ideals  along  some  lines.  But  to  have  the  labor  prob¬ 
lems  and  legal  status  of  women  taken  up  by  an  or¬ 
ganization  manned  by  Christian  women  is  an  encour¬ 
aging  sign  of  the  times.  Though  very  modest  in  its 


210  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

beginnings,  it  has  a  small  monthly  paper,  it  has  helped 
mediate  in  a  woman’s  strike,  and  has  organized  in  one 
business  concern  a  union  that  enabled  the  girl  employes 
to  better  their  situation  at  once.  The  Christian  spirit 
of  service  behind  these  Awakened  Women  makes  em¬ 
ployers  glad  to  appeal  to  them  for  help  in  settling  labor 
troubles  with  their  women  employes.  The  vast  field 
here  opening  before  Christian  women  who  are  able  to 
enter  it  is  more  than  commensurate  with  the  unrest 
and  agitation  that  are  today  one  sign  of  the  upward 
struggle  of  Japan's  women  laborers. 

The  capacity  for  high  devotion  in  Japanese  Christian 
womanhood  is  illustrated  by  the  following  description 
given  by  Miss  Bauernfeind  of  a  native  Biblewoman 
working  with  her  in  the  Tokyo  District: 

“She  is  appealed  to  again  and  again  by  both  men  and 
women  seeking  peace  of  heart;  and  her  own  experi¬ 
ence,  her  own  unfaltering  faith  in  the  Word  of  God,  is 
the  power  by  which  she  is  able  to  lead  others.  Through 
her  patient  efforts  large  numbers  have  been  saved,  and 
a  still  larger  number  are  being  instructed  daily,  and 
many  a  soul  is  kept  from  taking  her  life  by  her  own 
hands  because  she  has  learned  to  take  her  troubles  to 
the  Great  Burden-Bearer." 

EPILOGUE — Helping  the  Leaven  Spread 

The  woman  with  the  leaven,  then,  is  going  forth  into  all 
phases  of  woman’s  life  in  Japan.  There  is  no  side  of  it — 
physical,  social,  economic,  mental,  spiritual — that  has  not 
been  modified  by  the  fact  that  Jesus  Christ  lived  and  died 
and  rose  again  to  establish  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth. 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  211 


But  that  fact  has  not  yet  permeated  her  life.  The  little 
leaven  has  not  yet  leavened  the  whole  lump. 

What  will  help  to  hasten  the  leavening? 

The  housewife  covers  her  dough  to  prevent  a  draft  of  cold 
air  from  chilling  it.  Let  us  with  the  love  that  covereth  pro¬ 
tect  the  leaven  in  Japan  from  chilling  currents  of  racial 
prejudice,  international  friction  and  suspicion. 

The  housewife  sets  her  bread  near  the  oven  to  keep  it 
warm.  Let  us,  with  the  kindling  power  of  prayer  led  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  and  the  fuel  of  sacrificial  lives  burning  bright 
for  the  Master,  yours  on  that  side  of  the  ocean  and  ours  on 
this,  keep  the  leaven  warm  and  vigorous.  And  God  shall 
give  the  increase! 

To  Christian  students  everywhere,  but  most  of  all  to  those 
in  oriental  lands,  comes  the,  challenge  of  their  non-Christian 
neighbors. 

A  student  in  one  of  the  Japanese  Christian  colleges  who 
was  the  only  Christian  in  her  family  had  the  following  ex¬ 
perience  during  the  World  War: 

“The  clouds  of  war  were  threatening  over  in  Tsingtao  and 
day  by  day  many  young  men  of  Japan  were  called  away  from 
their  dear  ones  and  were  sent  to  the  front.  My  brother,  the 
eldest  of  us  five,  was  called  to  the  service  of  a  transport 
auxiliary  in  the  front.  With  his  young  adventurous  spirit, 
the  call  was  accepted  with  hearty  welcome,  but  to  his  mother 
it  was  a  hard  experience  of  patriotism  and  motherly  love 
conflict'ig  within  her.  She  tried,  however,  to  keep  calm  and 
quiet.  Several  sympathetic  friends  of  my  mother’s  would 
tell  her  that  such  and  such  shrines  were  good  and  she  would 
not  hesitate  to  go  to  every  one  of  them  and  pray  for  her  son’s 
safety.  I  could  not  help  praying  for  my  poor  mother. 

“There  lived  in  our  neighborhood  a  clog-maker  who  looked 
up  to  my  mother  with  cordial  feeling.  A  nice,  straightfor¬ 
ward  man  he  was,  and  an  earnest  believer  of  Shinto.  One 
evening  he  called  at  our  house  on  ‘an  important  business.’ 


i" 


212  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 

He  looked  very  much  excited,  and  began  to  speak  in  a  loud 
voice. 

“  ‘I  have  been  going  to  a  shrine  every  day  and  praying  that 
your  brother  may  return  safely  from  the  battlefields,  but  I 
have  not  been  quite  satisfied  with  the  answer  to  my  prayers. 
I  have  just  found  out  that  you  are  a  Christian,  and,  as  long 
as  one  member  of  his  family  is  a  Christian,  my  god  won’t 
answer  my  prayers,  and  consequently  your  brother  won’t 
come  back  safely.’ 

“His  eyes  showed  that  he  was  so  earnest  in  his  faith.  I 
answered  after  a  few  minutes  of  silent  prayer. 

“  ‘I  thank  you  very  much  for  your  kindness,  and  I  appreci¬ 
ate  it.  Yes,  I  am  a  Christian,  and  I  am  praying  to  my  God 
wTho  is  the  only  God,  almighty  God  and  Father,  and  He 
knows  best  what  to  do  for  my  brother  and  for  us.’ 

“The  words  ‘the  only  God’  roused  him  the  more  and  he 
shouted,  ‘You  speak  as  if  your  god  were  the  only  god  and 
my  religion  were  false.  You  defile  the  gods  of  Japan.  Chris¬ 
tianity  is  a  foreign  religion,  and  how  dare  you  believe  in 
that,  being  a  Japanese?  It  is  disloyal  to  the  nation  and  un- 
filial  to  your  ancestors.  I  have  been  making  vain  efforts 
because  of  your  Christian  faith.  Are  you  willing  to  let  your 
brother  die  on  the  field  and  grieve  your  mother  to  death? 
Now  give  up  your  god,  or  you  are  killing  your  brother  .  .  .  * 
He  kept  on  talking  and  talking  in  such  an  excited  manner. 

“Never  had  I  felt  so  distinctly  the  presence  of  God  within 
me,  thinking  with  me  and  talking  with  me  all  the  time  of  my 
interview  with  the  man.  I  quite  forgot  myself,  a  silent,  re¬ 
served  girl  I  was,  and  I  spoke  on.  ‘You  say  Christianity  is 
a  foreign  religion,  but  you  are  mistaken  if  you  think  so; 
the  God  of  my  religion  does  not  reign  just  in  foreign  lands, 
but  He  made  heaven  and  earth,  and  everything  was  made  by 
Him.  He  is  the  Father  of  all  nations — indeed,  everybody 
has  the  same  privilege  of  being  His  beloved  child.  As  to  my 
brother,  he  is  quite  willing  to  give  up  his  life  for  the  country, 


What  Christian  Women  Are  Doing  213 


if  necessary,  although  we  desire  nothing  more  than  that  he 
should  come  back  alive,  but  we  can  never  be  sure  about  it. 
God  knows  everything  and  I  trust  in  Him.  Let  us  hope  for 
the  best.  I  am  praying  that  he  may  live  an  eternal  life  if 
his  body  may  come  to  ruin.  I  will  pray  that  you  may  come 
to  the  knowledge  of  this  true  God  and  unite  with  me  in  pray¬ 
ing  to  Him.’ 

“  ‘O  God,  give  me  more  faith  that  I  may  lead  many  wan¬ 
dering  souls  to  the  knowledge  of  Thee.’  This  was  my  prayer 
when  I  went  to  bed  that  night.” 


/ 


INDEX 


A 

Abbess,  Buddhist,  teaches 
Christianity,  139;  Muraku- 
mo,  founds  society,  140. 

Achievements,  Christian, 
schools,  12,  69,  81 ;  colleges, 
8,  94,  95,  110,  111,  119-123; 
mission  schools,  81 ;  settle¬ 
ment  work  and  social  wel¬ 
fare  problem,  209,  210; 

universities,  57,  72,  112, 

114,  117,  118. 

Activities,  student,  growth 
of,  130. 

Adams,  Miss  Alice  P.,  202. 

Aiseikan,  hostel  for  women, 
social  center  of  uplift,  207. 

Allen,  Miss  Annie  W.,  con¬ 
ducts  hostel  in  Tokyo,  207 ; 
cited,  208. 

America,  Japanese  girls  edu¬ 
cated  in,  98. 

American  Association  of 
University  Women,  Japan 
branch  of,  150. 

Amaterasu,  story  of,  70. 

Ancestors,  worship  of,  42. 

Ancestral  tablets,  part  of 
ancestor  worship,  41. 

Applegarth,  Margaret,  author 
of  junior  book,  4. 

Architecture,  J  apanese, 
should  be  reformed,  19. 

Armstrong,  R.  C.,  article 
cited,  13. 

Articles,  urged  as  material 
for  study,  13. 

Associations,  various  types 
enumerated,  149. 

Aso,  Mr.  Shozo,  112,  114. 

Atomi,  Miss  Kakei,  pioneer 
in  modern  education,  ca¬ 
reer  of,  144. 


Awakened  Woman’s  Society, 
The,  for  working  girls  and 
women,  208,  209. 

B 

Baptisms,  number  of,  203. 

Barrows,  Miss  Martha  J. 
cited,  172. 

Bauernfeind,  Miss  Susan  M., 
Christian  worker,  207,  210. 

Bible,  excluded  from  gov¬ 
ernment  schools,  taught  in 
mission  schools,  80,  126. 

Bible  Women,  work  of,  num¬ 
ber  of,  schools,  172. 

Bigamy,  illegal  in  Japan,  53. 

Blossom,  plum,  why  chosen 
for  cover  design,  7. 

Books,  recommended  for 
study,  3,  4;  authors  and 
publishers,  3,  4;  to  be  pub¬ 
lished,  4. 

Boxer  Rebellion,  Mrs.  Okum- 
mura’s  field  work  in,  160. 

Brinkley’s  Oriental  Series, 
cited,  136. 

Buddhism,  80,  87. 

Bureaus,  matrimonial,  44,45; 
regulated,  44;  work  of,  44, 
45. 

Bushido ,  chivalry  code  of 
Japan,  41. 

Business  Women,  pioneers  in 
this  field,  Mrs.  Yoneko 
Suzuki,  150;  Madame  Hi- 
rooka,  151. 

C 

Camp,  Girls’,  181. 

Central  Committee,  The, 
books  and  leaflets  publish¬ 
ed  by,  4. 

Chastity,  among  Japanese 
women,  194. 


215 


216  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 


Chauffeur,  Japanese  Chris¬ 
tian,  helper  to  Miss  Gaines, 
180,  181. 

Children,  Japanese,  life  of, 
66-72 ;  school  life  of,  68-72 ; 
morals,  manners  and  dolls 
of,  72-76;  high  schools  for, 
76-82;  mission  schools  for, 
80-82;  studies  of,  78. 

China  War,  1894-5,  Christian 
women  in,  155. 

Chopsticks,  gradual  disuse 
of,  32. 

Christian  Schools,  elemen¬ 
tary  and  private,  69;  mis¬ 
sion,  81. 

Christianity,  beginnings  and 
growth  in  Japan,  11-12. 

Christian  Movement  in  Ja¬ 
pan,  The,  annual  publica¬ 
tion  of,  13;  statistics,  68. 

Christians,  Protestant,  num¬ 
ber  of,  11,  12. 

Civil  Code  of  Japan,  57. 

Class,  mission  study,  material 
for,  13. 

Clogs,  when  and  where  used, 
19-21. 

Co-education,  47. 

Coiffure,  western  styles  com¬ 
mon  in  modern  Japan,  28. 

Collaborator,  aid  acknowl¬ 
edged,  9. 

Colleges,  Women’s,  Wilson 
College,  Miss  Tsuda’s  Eng¬ 
lish  College,  8;  cited,  94, 
95;  Kobe,  110,  111;  Wom¬ 
en’s  Union  Christian,  119- 

^ l23- 

Compulsory  education,  six 
years  of  in  Japan,  69. 

Costume,  European,  increas- 

^  ing  use  by  Japanese,  21-26. 

Courses,  relations  of,  see 
chart,  104,  105. 


Customs,  Japanese,  old 
changes  to  new,  16-35. 

D 

De  Forest,  Charlotte,  daugh¬ 
ter  of  missionary,  Smith 
graduate,  president  Kobe 
College,  3;  author  of  study 
book,  3. 

Deities,  Shinto,  136. 

Design,  cover,  8. 

Development,  Japanese,  as  a 
nation,  29. 

Diet,  Japanese,  imported 
foods  and  methods,  31,  32. 

Divorce,  “seven  reasons  for,” 
54;  decreases  in,  55;  “hid¬ 
den,”  56. 

Doshisha  Girls*  College,  117- 

H9. 

Doshisha  University,  117. 

Dowd,  Miss  Anne,  estab¬ 
lishes  dormitory  for  poor 
girls  in  Kochi,  199. 

Dress,  Japanese,  many 
changes  in,  expense  of, 
vogue  of,  21-27. 

Drills,  work  of  college  girls, 
exercises,  127. 

E 

Ebina,  Dr.,  cited,  30. 

Education,  beginnings,  68 ; 
studies,  physical  branch  of, 
69;  folk  lore  and  tradition 
in,  70,  71 ;  high  school 
studies,  78;  outside  studies, 
79;  in  mission  schools,  81, 
82 ;  higher  branches  of,  96 ; 
foreign  study,  98-101 ;  Am¬ 
erican  vs.  Japanese,  102- 
103 ;  Chinese  ideographs, 
ability  of  women  students 
in  higher,  106;  Christian, 
96,  106-130. 


Index  217 


Elementary  schools,  Chris¬ 
tian,  few  in  Japan,  cause 
of,  69. 

Emigrant  women,  Y.  W.  C. 
A.  work  for,  number  of, 
courses  conducted  for,  183- 

^  184. 

Emperor,  Japanese,  picture 
of,  83. 

Empire,  constitution  of, 
adopted  in  1889,  34. 

Enrolment,  girls’  schools, 
Christian,  80. 

Environment  of  Japanese 
woman,  changes  in,  17. 

Equality,  for  women,  34,  35. 

European  dress,  compared  to 
Japanese,  21-27. 

F 

Factory  girls,  Japanese,  205. 

Factories,  Japanese,  205,  206. 

Faith,  Christian  Japanese  girl 
quoted  on,  129. 

Family,  old-style,  patriarchal, 
55 ;  modern,  56,  57. 

Fellowship,  funds  for  need¬ 
ed,  124,  125. 

Festival,  Dolls’,  75;  Boys’, 
76;  O  Bon,  76. 

Fisher,  Galen,  author  of 
study  book,  4;  valuable  as 
companion  book  to  “The 
Woman  and  the  Leaven  in 
Japan,”  4. 

Food,  imports  of,  new  sorts 
introduced,  new  uses  of, 
cultivation  of  soil  for,  30, 
31 ;  classes  in  cooking  and 
serving  of,  33. 

Footwear,  shoes  vs.  clogs, 

20,  21. 

Ford,  missionary  car  used  in 
Japan,  180,  181. 


Foreign  Missions,  Woman’s 
Boards  of,  4. 

Foss,  Mrs.,  helps  establish 
day  nurseries  in  Kobe, 
wife  of  Anglican  bishop, 

^  161,  162. 

Free  Zenrin  Kindergarten, 
(Baptist)  Kobe,  177. 

Furness,  Prof.  C.  E.,  153. 

G 

Gaines,  Miss,  quoted,  180. 

Gakko,  Jo,  Toyo  Eiwa,  1891, 
graduates,  consolidated, 
109; 

Gakuin,  Kansei,  cited  in 
story,  62. 

Gakuin,  Joshi,  number  of 
graduates — 1890,  consolida¬ 
tion,  109;  alumnae  of  pre¬ 
sent  purse  to  Madame 
Yajima,  187. 

Games,  girls’,  74. 

Geisha,  number  in  training, 
77 ;  problem  of,  191,  192 ; 
campaign  to  abolish  sys¬ 
tem  of,  193,  194. 

Gleason,  George,  writings, 
152. 

Go-between  in  Japanese 
marriage  negotiations,  43, 
44;  in  “free  marriages,” 
48;  duties  of,  50,  51. 

Goucher,  Dr.  John  F.,  visits 
Japan,  120. 

Government  institutions,  for 
education  of  afflicted  Jap¬ 
anese  ;  homes  for  orphans, 
feeble-minded,  201. 

Gulick,  Dr.,  author  of 
“Working  Women  of  Ja¬ 
pan,”  cited,  169. 

H 

Hair-dressing,  Japanese,  27, 
28. 


218  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 


Hakuaishi,  197;  Japanese 
settlement  work,  203. 

Hallowe’en,  Japanese,  76. 

Hani,  Mrs.  Motoko,  woman 
publisher,  33;  founds  new 
type  of  school,  148. 

Kara,  Mr.  T.,  head  of  home 
for  ex-convicts,  204. 

Hatoyama,  Mrs.  Haruko,  ac¬ 
tive  in  vocational  school 
work,  publisher,  146,  147. 

Hayashi,  Miss  Utako,  leader 
in  anti-vice  movement, 
196,  197 ;  delegate  1922  con¬ 
vention  W.  C.  T.  U.,  198. 

Health  Crusade,  in  Okayama 
among  children,  201. 

Heating,  modern  methods  in 
Japan,  23. 

Higher  study,  increased  de¬ 
mand  for,  125 ;  how  met, 
97-130;  by  Christian 
schools  and  colleges,  106- 
130. 

Hokkaido,  dairy  farms  es¬ 
tablished,  31. 

Holidays,  Japanese,  73,  82, 
83. 

Holland,  Miss  J.  M.,  pioneer 
in  factory  mission,  in  Os¬ 
aka,  206. 

Homes,  interior  of  Japanese, 
changes  in  styles,  18-19. 

Hygiene,  foot,  need  of,  20, 
21 ;  clothes,  hampering  to 
limbs,  27. 

Hymns,  Christian,  influence 
of,  175. 

Hyogo,  Ken,  official  emigra¬ 
tion  institute,  184. 

I 

Ibuka,  Mrs.  Hana,  184. 

Ideographs,  Chinese,  study 
of,  106. 


Incense  Burning,  86,  87. 

Individual  work,  among  fac¬ 
tory  workers,  206. 

Industries,  of  women  and 
girls,  76,  77. 

Infanticide,  30, 

Inouye,  Mrs.  Hideko,  leader 
of  Woman’s  Peace  Asso¬ 
ciation,  delegate  to  Wash¬ 
ington  in  1921,  189. 

Inouye,  Miss  Tomoko,  Chris¬ 
tian  woman  physician,  153. 

Institutions,  where  to  apply 
for  information  about,  130, 
131. 

Internationalization,  growth 
in  Japan  of,  29,  30. 

Ishimoto,  Baroness,  159. 

J 

Japan  Evangelist,  The,  issued 
monthly  by  the  united 
Christian  forces  of  Japan, 
13;  quoted,  192,  193. 

Japan,  Christianity  gains  in, 
12;  revolutionized  state  of, 
14;  language  changes,  lb- 
17  ;  changes  in  homes, 
clothing,  etc.,  18-28;  Civil 
Code  of,  57 ;  educational 
system,  68;  elementary 
Christian  schools  in,  69. 

Japan  Sunday  School  Asso¬ 
ciation,  summer  institute. 
174,  175. 

Japanese  Education,  Imperi¬ 
al  Rescript  on,  73,  74;  op¬ 
position  to  for  women,  96. 

Japanese  marriage,  .  legality 
of  depends  on  registration, 
56 ;  changes  status  of 
women,  57. 

Jimmu,  Emperor,  grave  of, 
85. 


Index 


219 


Jo,  Mrs.  Nobu,  founder  of 
Kobe  Woman’s  Welfare 
Association,  198,  199. 

K 

Kaetsu,  Miss  Takako,  found¬ 
er  of  Girls’  Commercial 
School,  147. 

Kagawa,  Mrs.,  a  leader  in 
slum  settlement  work,  208, 
209. 

Kamimura,  Madame,  142. 

Kashiwabara  Shrine,  85. 

Kawai,  Miss  Michi,  leading 
woman  speaker,  185. 

Kawai,  Shinsui,  171. 

Kimono,  21,  22. 

Kindergartens,  Japanese,  be¬ 
ginnings  of,  68 ;  Christian 
branches  176;  registration 
obligatory,  177;  large  field 
for,  178. 

Komaki,  Mrs.  Tetsuko,  Sal¬ 
vation  Army  Captain,  195, 
196. 

Komiyama,  Mrs.  Tomie, 
leader  of  “The  Awakened 
Woman’s  Society,”  208. 

Konoe,  Princess  Chiyoko, 
188. 

Kurihara,  Miss  Fruniko, 
promising  young  painter, 
142. 

Kuroda,  Count,  98. 

Kwassui,  girls’  school  in 
Nagasaki,  106-109. 

L 

Language,  Japanese,  changes 
in  recent  years,  16-18. 

Leavitt,  Mrs.  Mary  Clement, 
American  W.  C.  T.  U. 
worker  visits  Japan,  186. 

Lectures,  used  to  illustrate 
virtues,  39,  40. 


Leprosy,  fought  by  foreign 
missionaries,  government 
establishes  leper  hospitals, 
200. 

M 

MacDonald,  Miss  Caroline, 
204. 

Makino,  Mr.,  Japanese  tem¬ 
perance  official,  gives  fig¬ 
ures  on  social  evil,  190. 

Matrons,  Christian  desired 
by  factory  managers,  207. 

Marriage,  a  social  obligation, 
no  individual  choice,  43 ; 
privately  arranged,  45; 
through  matrimonial  bu¬ 
reaus,  44,  45;  young  people 
not  consulted,  46,  47 ; 
“free”,  47,  48;  Christian 
ideals  of,  51-53;  trial,  56. 

Medicine,  women  in,  152. 

Meiji,  1868-1912 —  “Enlight¬ 
ened  Reign,”  28. 

Methodist  Publishing  House, 
Tokyo,  13. 

Miai,  distinctive  Japanese 
custom,  50. 

Militarism,  on  the  wane  in 
Japan,  188. 

Minors,  intoxicating  liquors 
prohibited  to,  190. 

Mission  Boards,  foreign, 
unite  to  build  college,  120. 

Missionary  Boards,  Japanese, 
support  Christian  preach¬ 
ers,  11. 

Mitani,  Miss  Fumi,  132,  133. 

Modern  Orient,  the  Japan  of 
yesterday  and  today,  16-35. 

Monogamy,  influence  of 
gains,  54. 

Morals,  formally  taught  in 
Japanese  schools,  Imperial 


220  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 


sanction  of  such  teaching, 
73,  74. 

M.  San,  story  of,  59-63. 

Myers,  Dr.  H.  W.,  cited  as 
to  prostitution  system,  192, 
193. 

Music,  Christian,  176. 

Musicians,  Japanese,  Miss 
Hisako  Kuno,  and  Miss 
Sue  Ogura,  pianists ;  Ma¬ 
dame  Tamaki  Miura,  vo¬ 
calist.  leaders,  142,  143. 

Mythology,  Japanese,  taught 
in  schools,  70;  vs.  history, 
72. 

N 

Nabeshima,  Marchioness, 
156. 

Naruse,  Jinzo,  founder  of 
Woman’s  University,  111, 
112. 

Nagao,  Hampei,  vice-presi¬ 
dent,  Women’s  Union 
Christian  College,  122. 

National  Mothers’  Associa¬ 
tion,  founded  1918,  178,179. 

Neesima,  Joseph  Hardy, 
founder  of  Doshisha  Uni¬ 
versity,  117. 

Neesima,  Mrs.,  head  of  body 
of  nurses,  widow  of  found¬ 
er  of  Doshisha  University, 
155. 

Nemoto,  Mr.  Sho,  Christian 
leader,  189. 

New  Japan,  fifty  years  ago 
and  now,  16,  17. 

New  Woman’s  Society, 
founded  by  Mrs.  Akiko 
Hiratsuka,  1919,  158. 

Nishino,  Miss,  cited,  188. 

Nitobe,  Dr.  Inazo,  president 
in  absentia  of  Women’s 


Union  Christian  College, 

121. 

Noguchi,  Madame,  famous 
landscape  painter,  141. 

Nurture,  Christian,  means 
taken  for  it,  125. 

O 

Obi,  distinctive  Japanese 
dress,  23,  24. 

Oda,  Miss  Yasu,  Oberlin 
graduate,  a  leader  in  slum 
settlement  work,  208,  209. 

Office,  Home,  report  on  child 
workers,  77. 

Okumura,  Mrs.  Ioko,  founds 
Women’s  Patriotic  Socie¬ 
ty,  her  life  work,  159-161. 

Olds,  Rev.  C.  B.,  leader  of 
health  crusade  in  Okaya¬ 
ma,  201. 

Organization,  social,  in  Ja¬ 
pan,  209,  210. 

Osaka,  Japanese  industrial 
center,  206. 

Onna  Daigaku,  cited,  41,  42, 
47,  54,  55. 

Oyama,  Princess,  99,  100. 

Oyama,  Prince,  prominent 
Japanese  leader,  99. 

P 

Parents,  power  of,  45 ;  re¬ 
sponsibility  of,  46;  becom¬ 
ing  less  strict  with  chil¬ 
dren,  49. 

Perry,  Commodore,  compari¬ 
son  of  his  day  and  the 
present  in  Japan,  15-16. 

Physicians,  women,  Mrs. 
Yayoi  Yoshioka,  founds 
medical  school  for  women, 
152,  153. 

Pieter,  Rev.  Albertus,  13. 


Index 


221 


Pioneers,  in  1871,  five  girl 
students,  98-102. 

Population,  Japanese,  in¬ 
crease  from  1912  to  1920, 
12. 

Posters,  anti-Christian,  95. 

Prayer  becomes  habit  after 
years  under  Christian 
teaching,  128,  129. 

Priests,  Shinto,  use  Christian 
wedding  ceremony,  53. 

Prison  Gate  work,  many 
homes  established  for  ex¬ 
convicts,  203,  204. 

Problems,  for  girls  who  be¬ 
come  Christians,  82;  of  a 
Christian,  of  a  mission 
school,  84. 

Progress,  political  and  social, 
many  changes  in  Japan, 
33-35.  # 

Prohibition,  first  bill  passed 
in  1922,  introduced  25 
years  ago,  189,  190. 

Prostitution,  report  quoted 
on,  money  spent,  etc.,  192. 

Pseudo-Shinto,  three  women 
found  sects,  137. 

Publications,  valuable  sources 
of  information,  13. 

Publicist,  Mrs.  Wakako  Ya- 
mada,  self-made  leader, 
writer  on  women’s  prob¬ 
lems,  157,  158. 

R 

Red  Cross  Society,  Japanese, 
first  nation-wide  organiza¬ 
tion,  154,  155. 

Regulations  of  marriage  bu¬ 
reaus,  44,  45. 

Reischauer,  Dr.  A.  K.,  ex¬ 
ecutive  secretary,  Women’s 
Union  Christian  College, 
122. 


Relatives,  Council  of,  42;  in¬ 
vestigated  by  marriage  bu¬ 
reaus,  45. 

Rescript,  Imperial,  cited,  71, 
73,  74. 

Riddell,  Miss  Harriett, 
founds  leper  hospital,  200. 

S 

Sacred  music,  school  of 
planned,  176. 

Salvation  Army,  r  es  c  u  e 
homes  installed  by,  195, 
196. 

Samiseu,  Japanese  musical 
instrument,  191. 

Sects,  Buddhist,  Shinto,  num¬ 
ber  of  priestesses  devoted 
to,  137. 

Separation,  sex,  very  marked 

^  in  Japan,  46,  47. 

Schedule,  for  girls,  class 
work,  hours  enumerated, 

.  78- 

School,  Girls’  English,  pur¬ 
pose  and  grade,  small  be¬ 
ginnings,  student  body  and 
equipment,  115-116. 

Schools,  government  vs.  mis¬ 
sion,  government  licenses, 
81 ;  normal  branches,  regu¬ 
lar  courses,  97,  98;  college 
grade,  names  of  those  rec¬ 
ognized  by  government, 
106,  107;  commercial,  aid 
to  self  support,  147;  voca¬ 
tional,  courses  given,  146, 
147;  dental,  for  women, 
153. 

Schultz,  Gertrude,  compiler 
of  “How  to  Use”  booklet, 
4. 

Seisaburo  San,  story  of,  169- 
171. 


222  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 


Selections,  Japanese  students’ 
letters  and  essays,  63-65 ; 
89-92;  college  girl’s  letter, 
131 ;  extracts  from  diary 
of  college  students,  162- 
166. 

Sexes,  separation  of,  very 
marked,  47. 

Shimoda,  Madame  Utako, 
famous  educator,  145,  146. 

Shin  heimen,  “new  citizens,” 
large  field  for  Christian 
work,  government  endeav¬ 
oring  to  help,  no  mission¬ 
ary  yet  among  them,  204. 

Shinran,  founder  of  “Pro¬ 
testant”  Buddhist  sect,  136. 

Shintoism,  barred  from  gov¬ 
ernment  schools,  80 ;  em¬ 
blems  used  in,  86. 

Shirozdke,  Japanese  alcohol¬ 
ic  drink,  use  attacked  by 
temperance  societies,  75. 

Shogi,  licensed  prostitute, 
system,  192. 

Shohara,  Miss  Hide,  credit 
for  aid,  9. 

Shrines,  worship  at,  83,  84; 
contributions  to,  85. 

Shichi-go-san  no  iwai,  “7-5-3 
celebration,”  67,  68. 

Shushin,  morals  studied  from 
textbooks  in  schools,  has 
basis  in  Imperial  Rescript 
on  Education,  72,  73. 

Single  standard  of  morals, 
gains  ground  in  Japan,  187. 

Slums,  great  increase  of,  in 
Japanese  cities,  problems 
faced  by  government  and 
social  organizations,  202. 

Socialism,  Miss  KikueYama- 
kama,  socialist,  writer,  157. 

Social  Worker’s  Convention, 
Sixth  National,  1921,  in¬ 


dorses  abolition  of  licensed 
prostitution,  198. 

Social  evil,  difficult  to  eradi¬ 
cate,  allied  with  drink  evil, 

^  190. 

Social  welfare,  Japan’s  or¬ 
ganizations  manned  by 
Christian  women,  labor 
problem  and  legal  status 
of  women  taken  up,  209, 
210. 

Societies,  Buddhist,  Wom¬ 
en’s,  137-140. 

Societies,  Girls’,  wide  field 
for  Christian  work  in, 
181 ;  monthly  magazine 
circulated,  182. 

Societies,  women’s  mission¬ 
ary,  many  formed,  their 
work,  175. 

Stage,  offers  opportunities  to 
modern  young  women, 
143,  144. 

Student,  Japanese  Christian, 
cited,  211-213. 

Suma,  site  of  Mrs.  Jo’s  anti¬ 
suicide  signboard,  198. 

Sunday,  influence  of,  on  col¬ 
lege  girls,  value  of  train¬ 
ing,  128. 

Sunday  Schools,  common 
form  of  service,  large  at¬ 
tendance,  126,  127. 

Sun-Goddess,  ancestress  of 
Japan,  70;  ceremonies  to, 

^  83. 

Superstition,  passing  away, 
84. 

System,  Japanese  Family,  de¬ 
scribed  and  compared  with 
Western  system,  39-40; 
different  parts  of  system 
explained,  40-42;  legal  sta¬ 
tus  of  women  under,  57 ; 
woman’s  place  in,  57,  58. 


Index 


223 


T 

Tablets,  ancestral,  found  in 
many  Japanese  homes,  41. 

Takamoi,  Miss  Fuji,  kinder¬ 
garten  specialist,  178. 

Talcott,  Miss  Eliza,  dis¬ 
tinguished  service  as  nurse, 
155. 

Tales,  fairy,  70-71 ;  mytho¬ 
logical,  historical,  72. 

Tanaka,  Mrs.,  woman  dele¬ 
gate  to  Labor  Conference 
in  Washington,  158. 

Teachers,  native,  few  avail¬ 
able,  supply  on  the  in¬ 
crease,  124,  125. 

Temples,  Buddhist,  incense 
burned  in,  86,  87. 

Tennyson,  quoted,  15. 

Textile  industries,  employes 
of,  205. 

Themes,  Japanese  Christian 
students  write  on  Wom¬ 
an’s  field,  35-37. 

Tobita  campaign,  partial  suc¬ 
cess  of,  led  by  Miss  Hay- 
ashi,  object  of,  197. 

Tokyo,  Japan,  home  of 
Women’s  Union  Christian 
College,  122. 

Tokiwasha,  Methodist  pub¬ 
lishing  agency,  Yokohama, 
179. 

Topping,  Miss  Helen,  183. 

Training,  domestic  and  so¬ 
cial,  of  girls,  78,  79. 

Translators,  Mrs.  Tsuchiko 
Yamamato  and  Mrs.  Hana 
Muraoka,  141. 

Trousseau,  Japanese,  descrip¬ 
tion  of,  26,  27. 

Tsuda,  Miss,  advanced  ideas 
taught  students  on  marri¬ 
age  engagements,  49-51 ; 
career  of,  100,  101. 


Tuberculosis,  Japanese  law 
provides  sanitoriums  in 
large  cities,  health  educa¬ 
tion  to  prevent  spread  of 
disease,  200,  201. 

U 

University,  Japan  Women’s, 
non-sectarian,  when  op¬ 
ened,  courses  described, 
111-114. 

University,  Kyoto  Imperial, 
lecturer  from  cited,  57. 

University,  Waseda,  profes¬ 
sor’s  article  cited,  72. 

Urashima,  legend  of,  15. 

Uryu,  Baroness,  100. 

V 

Volunteer  women,  need  for 
more  training  of,  174;  now 
being  met,  174,  175. 

Volunteer  Nurses’  Associa¬ 
tion,  membership  of,  155. 

Vories,  Mrs.  William  Mer- 
rell,  formerly  Miss  Hitot- 
suyanagi,  cited,  194. 

W 

W.  C  .T.  U.  Woman’s  Home, 
Osaka,  founded  by  Miss 
Hayashi,  197. 

Wedding,  Christian,  influ¬ 
ence  of,  54;  of  Crown 
Prince,  53. 

Welfare  Home,  preventive 
work  of,  founded  by  Mrs. 
Nobu  Jo,  198. 

West,  Mrs.  A.  B.,  decorated 
by  Japanese  government, 
155. 

Wilder,  Prof.,  H.  H.,  cited, 

21. 

Womanhood,  Japanese  Chris- 


224  The  Woman  and  the  Leaven  in  Japan 


tian,  description  of  given 
by  Miss  Bauernfeind,  210. 

Woman’s  Christian  Temper¬ 
ance  Union,  oldest  society 
in  Japan,  dates  from  De¬ 
cember,  1886,  186. 

Woman’s  Peace  Association, 
organized  in  Japan  in  1921, 
its  aim,  188. 

Women,  Japanese,  place  in 
heathen  religions,  136,  137 ; 
found  sects,  137;  nuns  and 
priestesses,  137,  138. 

Women,  their  part  in  Japan’s 
Christian  progress,  12; 
higher  education  of,  96. 

Women’s  organizations,  num¬ 
ber  of,  new  ones  being 
launched,  opportunities  of, 
162. 

Women’s  Patriotic  Society, 
largest  woman’s  organiza¬ 
tion  in  Japan,  159;  many 
Christian  women  are  mem¬ 
bers,  161;  establishes 
creches,  161-162. 

Women  missionaries,  for¬ 
eign  ;  number ;  married  and 
unmarried,  their  work,  179. 

Women’s  missionary  socie¬ 
ties,  in  Japan,  their  work, 
175. 

Workers,  children,  girls,  77 ; 
statistics,  77 ;  life  of,  77,  78. 

Workers,  Japanese  Christian, 
number  of,  missionary 
spirit  of,  11. 

Worship,  Ancestor,  formerly 
common  practice  in  Japan, 
41,  42;  only  reason  left  for 
family  system,  58. 


Y 

Yajima,  Madame,  poem 
quoted,  meaning  explained, 
7 ;  thirty  years  head  of 
Japanese  W.  C.  T.  U., 
known  as  “the  Frances 
Willard  of  Japan,”  educa¬ 
tor  and  reformer,  186,  187 ; 
delegate  to  World’s  W.  C. 
T.  U.  conference  at  age  of 
88,  187 ;  presents  peace 

resolution  to  President 
Harding,  188. 

Yamamuro,  Colonel,  investi¬ 
gates  debt  system  with  re¬ 
gard  to  geisha,  193. 

Yamawaki,  Mrs.  Fusako, 
prominent  educator,  found¬ 
er  of  girls’  school,  182. 

Yasui,  Miss  Tetsu,  present 
head  of  Women’s  Union 
Christian  College,  121,  122. 

Yosano,  Madam  Akiko,  fore¬ 
most  woman  writer  of  Ja¬ 
pan,  140,  141. 

Yuino,  bridegroom’s  gift,  51. 

Y.  W.  C.  A.,  a  factor  in  Jap¬ 
anese  girls’  religious  life, 
126;  Doshisha  “Y”  wins 
prize  banner,  128. 

Y.  W.  C.  A.,  Japanese,  adapts 
American  club  idea,  devel¬ 
ops  special  features  and 
studies,  182,  183;  number 
of  secretaries,  associations 
and  other  activities,  184. 

Z 

Zako  San,  story  of,  message 
from,  169-171. 


DATE  DUE 


